Business briefs
Published 7:33 pm Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Everett-based Cascade Bank reported record profits during the fourth quarter and the year ending Dec. 31. The bank highlighted 10 percent year-over-year loan growth, an expanding margin of net interest and continued credit quality. For the year, earnings per share grew 17 percent, net income grew 16 percent and total loans grew to $1.11 billion, the 10 percent increase mentioned earlier. Nonperforming loans were 0.14 percent of the total, the bank reported. Fourth quarter net interest income for 2007 was $11.3 million, compared with $10.2 million in the year-ago period.
EBay leader ready to retire?
News that eBay Inc. Chief Executive Meg Whitman may retire comes as the online auctioneer faces slowing growth and disappointing returns from its $2.6 billion gamble on the Internet phone service Skype. Whitman is preparing to retire after a decade at the helm, according to a Wall Street Journal report in Tuesday’s print editions. But eBay spokesman Hani Durzy declined to comment and called the report “rumor and speculation.” The paper, citing unidentified people familiar with the matter, reported that Whitman has increasingly been delegating daily responsibilities and is working on a plan of succession. In October, the company reported its first quarterly loss since 1999 after a $900 million write-down in the value of Skype, which it purchased in 2005 for $2.6 billion.
Yahoo layoffs may go deep
After seven months as chief executive, Yahoo Inc. co-founder Jerry Yang has concluded hundreds of employees will have to be fired to help the slumping Internet icon recover from years of misguided management. The Sunnyvale-based company’s biggest purge since the dot-com bust most likely will be announced next week, analysts said. They are betting Yahoo will trim its 14,000-employee payroll by about 5 percent or 700 workers.
Wal-Mart covers more workers
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. said Tuesday its rate of uninsured employees dropped by more than 20 percent in the last year, fueled in part by its new health care plans for workers. The world’s largest retailer said only 7.3 percent of its workers reported being uninsured, down from 9.6 percent the year before.
T-bill rates fall in Tuesday auction
Interest rates on short-term Treasury bills fell in Tuesday’s auction with rates on six-month bills dropping to the lowest level since late 2004. The Treasury Department auctioned $21 billion in three-month bills at a discount rate of 2.37 percent, down from 3.08 percent last week. Another $19 billion in six-month bills was auctioned at a discount rate of 2.4 percent, down from 2.95 percent last week. For a $10,000 bill, the three-month price was $9,940.09 while a six-month bill sold for $9,878.67. Separately, the Federal Reserve said Tuesday that the average yield for one-year Treasury bills, a popular index for making changes in adjustable rate mortgages, fell to 2.83 percent last week from 3.04 percent the previous week.
From Herald staff and news services
