Verizon Communications Inc. posted a 15 percent earnings increase for the fourth quarter on Tuesday, as the shrinking economy did little to dampen consumer appetites for wireless, Internet and TV service. The country’s second-largest telecommunications provider earned $1.24 billion, or 43 cents per share, up from $1.07 billion, or 37 cents per share, a year earlier.
Excluding charges mainly for job cuts, earnings were 61 cents per share, matching the expectation of analysts polled by Thomson Reuters. Revenue rose 3.4 percent to $24.6 billion from a year ago. That fell slightly short of analyst expectations at $24.74 billion. Verizon’s shares fell $1.03, or 3.3 percent, to end at $29.96, as investors seized on apparent weakness in new signups for wireless services.
Treasury head discloses assets
Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner is no Hank Paulson when it comes to his personal finances. Geithner’s financial disclosure filing released Tuesday showed he has assets valued at between $740,000 and $1.7 million. His biggest asset is partial ownership of vacation property on Cape Cod in Massachusetts valued between $250,000 and $500,000. Former Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, a 32-year veteran of investment firm Goldman Sachs, had an estimated net worth of more than $700 million when he joined the Bush administration in 2006. To obey conflict of interest rules, Paulson agreed to sell over 3.2 million shares of stock in Goldman Sachs that were valued at more than $480 million in the summer of 2006.
Local financial firm to cut 20 percent
Russell Investments says it will cut 20 percent of its jobs by the end of the year to reduce expenses. That would be 420 jobs out of a global work force of 2,100 with the investment management business based in Tacoma. A spokesman, Steve Claiborne, says he can’t say yet how many of the cuts will be at the headquarters. In Tuesday’s statement, Russell says it’s not immune to the changed global financial environment.
Yahoo losses better than feared
Yahoo Inc. stumbled to a fourth-quarter loss of $303 million, but the Internet company withstood the recession better than analysts had expected. The results that were released Tuesday closed the books on Yahoo co-founder Jerry Yang’s fruitless 18-month stint as CEO. The Sunnyvale, Calif.-based company hired a new leader, Carol Bartz, two weeks ago in its latest attempt to orchestrate a turnaround. Yahoo’s loss translated into 22 cents per share. It compared with a profit of 15 cents per share in the prior year, when Yahoo earned $206 million. The setback wasn’t as bad as it appeared because it stemmed from charges to cover Yahoo’s costs for laying off 1,500 employees last month and to account for bad investments.
Target to cut headquarters staff
Discount retailer Target Corp. said Tuesday that it will cut 9 percent of its headquarters staff, close a distribution center and reduce planned new-store openings as it battles the weak economy. The staff cut includes 600 employees and 400 open positions. The company plans to close its Little Rock, Ark., distribution center, which employs another 500 people, later this year.
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