An Arlington company was fined $10,500 after an ironworker fell to his death at the Quincy construction site for Microsoft’s new data center last summer. The Erection Co. was issued a citation Jan. 25 by the state Department of Labor and Industries for three violations related to the July 25 accident.
“We will appeal the citation and we disagree with its issuance entirely,” Adam Jones, president and owner of the company, said Wednesday.
The company could not have done anything differently to prevent the accident, he said. Travis L. Watts, 31, of Richland was killed when a bundle of roof decking to which he was harnessed slipped between steel roof beams and fell about 30 feet.
Strong sales lift Comcast’s profits
Comcast Corp., the nation’s largest cable television operator, said Thursday that fourth-quarter profits nearly tripled as customers signed up for its discounted video, Internet and phone package, but the results fell short of expectations. The company also said it is splitting its stock 3-for-2 on Feb. 21. Net income totaled $390 million, or 18 cents per share, in the three months ended Dec. 31, compared with $133 million, or 6 cents per share, in the same quarter a year ago.
Seattle Genetics shares soar
Shares of Seattle Genetics Inc. increased 15 percent Thursday, giving the Bothell developer of anti-cancer drugs its highest stock price since 2004. The company’s stock closed at $8.35 a share, up $1.11 for the day amid heavy trading. Since announcing a drug licensing deal with Genentech, which could eventually generate more than $860 million for Seattle Genetics, its shares have risen in value by 58 percent.
Exxon Mobil logs largest profit
Oil giant Exxon Mobil Corp. on Thursday posted the largest annual profit by a U.S. company – $39.5 billion – even as earnings for the last quarter of 2006 declined 4 percent. The 2006 profit topped the previous record, also by Exxon Mobil, of $36.13 billion set in 2005. The record earnings amounted to roughly $4.5 million an hour for the world’s largest publicly traded oil company, which produces about 3 percent of the world’s oil.
U.S. savings rate at Depression level
People once again spent everything they made and then some in 2006, pushing the personal savings rate to the lowest level since the Great Depression more than seven decades ago. The Commerce Department reported Thursday that the 2006 savings rate was a negative 1 percent, meaning that people not only spent all the money they earned but they also dipped into savings or increased borrowing.
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