Business & Finance
AT&T reported a $7.1 billion third-quarter loss amid a revenue-sinking price war for business customers. The nation's largest long-distance telephone company has recorded huge charges related to its retreat from traditional services.
Boca Resorts, a network of luxury hotels and golf clubs in Florida, agreed to be acquired for $1 billion by an affiliate of the Blackstone Group, the New York investment firm.
Qwest Communications, which has been under investigation since 2002 for allegedly inflating revenue through fraudulent transactions, was expected to announce that it has agreed to pay $250 million to settle a Securities and Exchange Commission complaint. The complaint, according to a source familiar with the case, is especially critical of senior Qwest managers.
The Walt Disney Co. is ending its flirtation with retailing and will give its network of 300 stores to the Children's Place, a seller of children's clothing, The New York Times reported. Under a licensing agreement, Disney will receive royalties from sales by the Secaucus, N.J., company, which owns 695 stores, mostly in malls.
Huffy Corp., the bicycle manufacturer, filed for bankruptcy protection. Although the Miamisburg, Ohio, company has held onto about 30 percent of the US market, it has experienced mounting losses while attempting to diversify into such products as basketball backboards.
In one of the busiest days for layoff news in months:
• Employees of DHL, the global parcel delivery service, went on strike in Brussels to protest the company's decision to relocate its hub to Germany or France because of the city's refusal to accept an increase in nighttime flights. The move will result in the loss of 1,300 jobs.
• Freescale Semiconductor, a leading supplier of chips to the automotive and wireless industries, said it will cut at least 1,000 jobs from its global workforce, most of them by year's end. The Austin, Texas, company is a spinoff from electronics giant Motorola Inc.
• General Motors said it will lay off 900 hourly workers at its Pontiac, Mich., truck assembly plant in January.
• American Airlines notified the Transport Workers Union that it will cut 400 positions at its Kansas City maintenance center as of Nov. 25, reports said.
• Delta Woodside, a Greenville, S.C., maker of fabric for clothing, said it will cut 400 jobs - more than one-quarter of its payroll.
• Convergys Corp. of Cincinnati, a provider of technical support, telemarketing, customer service, billing, and telemarketing for corporate clients, announced 250 layoffs, effective early next year.
