Lynnwood-based City Bank earned $10.38 million for the quarter ended Sept. 30, an increase of $476,000 or 4.81 percent compared with $9.9 million for the third quarter of 2006. The bank’s diluted income of 65 cents per share reflects an increase of 3.17 percent from the earnings of 63 cents per share for the same period a year ago. Most of the income growth for the quarter was due to continued growth in average loan balances from $892.16 million last year to $1.09 billion during the past quarter, bank officials said in a news release.
Dollar menu helps McDonald’s
McDonald’s Corp. said Friday its third-quarter profit will exceed Wall Street’s estimates following another month of strong sales for the world’s largest fast-food chain. The company said its global sales from restaurants open more than a year rose 5.9 percent in September, led by an impressive 12 percent gain in its Asia/Pacific, Middle East and Africa division. The company cited its value menu, breakfast offerings and drinks as helping to boost sales.
Fox TV ready to air business channel
Rupert Murdoch has entered a dark horse in high-stakes races before, and won. On Monday, the News Corp. media titan trots out the Fox Business Network. Two years in the making, the channel will challenge General Electric Co.’s highly profitable CNBC network as it seeks to redefine business news for average Americans faced with increasingly complex decisions about their financial futures.
Microsoft service helps you party
Microsoft Corp. has added a digital party-invitation service to its suite of Windows Live Web services. Events, as the new tool is called, works much like IAC/InterActiveCorp.’s Evite does. Users choose one of dozens of predesigned templates — birthday, cocktail party, Chinese New Year, even Yom Kippur breakfast. They fill in the time and place of their event, add a map, type in invitees’ e-mail addresses and hit send. The person planning the party must have a Windows Live ID, but guests don’t need one to respond to the invitation. The event page keeps track of who’s attending and who’s not and offers a discussion board tool.
American Airlines boosts fares by $5
American Airlines raised many domestic fares by $5 each way to cover fuel costs, but left prices unchanged on routes where it competes with low-cost carriers. The increase affected both advance-purchase tickets favored by vacationers and more costly last-minute tickets aimed at business travelers. Shares of AMR rose 59 cents, or 2.5 percent, to $24.50 in afternoon trading.
From Herald staff and news services
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