Charter Communications Inc. recorded a narrower third-quarter loss on higher Internet and commercial revenues and lower income tax expenses.
The net loss for the Town and Country-based cable-television provider was $85 million, or 79 cents a share, compared with a loss of $95 million, or 84 cents, in the same quarter last year no fax cash advance.
Total revenue rose 2.3 percent to $1.81 billion.
Chevron Corp.’s quarterly profit more than doubled as a jump in petroleum prices made up for declining production.
Chevron, the second-largest U.S. oil company after Exxon Mobil, said Friday that oil prices soared 41 percent in the U.S. and 47 percent internationally. Natural gas prices also rose.
The third-quarter results mirror other oil giants that reported earlier this week. Despite lower oil production, Exxon Mobil’s net income rose 41 percent while profits doubled for BP and Royal Dutch Shell.
Chevron, based in San Ramon, Calif., reported net income of $7.83 billion, or $3.92 per share, for the quarter. That compared with $3.77 billion, or $1.87 per share, a year earlier. Revenue rose 26 percent to $61.3 billion instant credit reports.
Results beat expectations of $3.47 per share but fell short of revenue estimates of $70.4 billion, according to FactSet.
Shares slipped 75 cents to $108.51 in premarket trading.
Increased prices lifted Chevron exploration and production profits 74 percent, even though oil and natural gas production declined 5 percent.
Similarly, higher prices for gasoline, diesel, jet fuel and other petroleum products boosted profits at the company’s refineries. Chevron’s downstream business, which includes refineries, posted a more than threefold jump in profit.
Marlboro maker Altria Group Inc. said Thursday that it will cut the number of salaried workers at its cigarette business and related service subsidiaries by 15 percent as cigarette sales continue to decline industrywide.
The owner of the nation’s largest cigarette maker, Philip Morris USA, announced plans to trim $400 million in annualized costs by the end of 2013 as it reported quarterly earnings Thursday, which would include about $300 million in employee separation costs and additional reductions in spending.
Altria, based in Richmond, Va., would not say how many people would be impacted by the layoffs. The company said employees that will lose their jobs will be informed by mid-December and most will leave the company by late February. The reductions announced Thursday do not include hourly manufacturing workers.
Altria has 10,000 employees across the U.S., including about 4,600 in Virginia. Cigarettes make up the bulk of its business.
Cigarette volumes have declined annually by about 3 percent in recent years and have fallen significantly since a 62-cents-per-pack federal tax increase in 2009. Additional state tax hikes, smoking bans, health concerns and social stigma have made the cigarette business tougher. Consumers also face economic challenges, and unemployment remains high.
“One of the things that you’re going to have to do in this business is as volume declines … you have to take out cigarette-related infrastructure cost, in order to manage the business properly,” CEO Michael E. Szymanczyk said in a conference call with investors regarding the company’s third-quarter financial results. “You can’t carry infrastructure for a business that was originally designed for a bigger business. You have to continue to shrink it as the overall business shrinks.”
The number of cigarettes that Altria sold declined 9 percent in the third quarter to 33.3 billion cigarettes compared with a year ago, and the segment’s revenue during the quarter fell 6 percent to $3.64 billion, excluding excise taxes.
Tobacco companies like Altria have tried to offset declines in cigarette sales by reining in expenses and raising prices.
During the third quarter, Altria said it completed a multiyear cost savings program, exceeding its goal of reducing costs by $1.5 billion between 2007 and 2011. That program included the closure of its Cabarrus manufacturing facility in North Carolina in 2009.
Others in the industry also have made cost-cutting moves, including closing or consolidating factories and sales forces, and offering buyouts to some workers.
Efforts to reduce costs are commonplace for consumer goods companies in recent times, Edward Jones analyst Jack Russo said.
“Especially in developed markets such as the U.S. and Europe, it’s been very hard to grow for these consumer companies,” Russo said. “And when you can’t grow the top line, you’ve still got to grow profits in line with what Wall Street’s expecting, there’s only one way to do it, you’ve got to cut costs and headcount is part of that.”
The city that put Love Canal and Superfund in the environmental lexicon may get back into the business of dealing with toxic waste _ this time willingly. It is considering whether to truck in and treat wastewater left over from natural gas drilling.
The economically struggling city in western New York could use the revenue, and the Niagara Falls Water Board says its specialized wastewater treatment plant can handle more business since the decline of the chemical industry it was designed for.
With New York considering allowing natural gas production in its part of the lucrative Marcellus Shale, the water board is examining whether it would make economic sense to become a destination for the byproduct wastewater of the drilling process, called hydraulic fracturing, said Richard Roll, the public benefit corporation’s director of technical and regulatory services.
“Since we do have a unique kind of wastewater treatment plant that’s very much under-loaded, we’re looking into the possibility that, with the addition of other treatment processes, maybe our plant would be much more amenable to accepting this waste than your typical municipal biological plant,” he said.
Many have criticized the idea, including former Love Canal resident Lois Gibbs, who became a national voice for environmental health. She said she wondered if city officials would ever learn.
“They’re moving away from the chemical industry because the chemical industry is moving away from them, and it’s time to start a new economy,” Gibbs said by phone Thursday from Falls Church, Va., where she’s executive director of the Center for Health, Environment & Justice. “And the new economy is certainly not taking chemical waste.”
Fracking forces millions of gallons of water, mixed with sand and chemicals, deep into shale formations beneath Pennsylvania, New York, Ohio, West Virginia, Texas and other states. Its use has increased dramatically in recent years, raising concerns about the potential impact on water quality. Critics say fracking could poison water supplies, while the natural gas industry says it’s been used safely for decades.
Liquid that comes out of the drilling wells is highly salty and contaminated with substances such as barium, strontium and radium and other things that can be damaging to the environment. Millions of barrels of wastewater must be treated, and municipal sewage treatment plants can’t remove contaminants as efficiently as some of the treatment facilities that specialize in oil and gas industry waste.
The Environmental Protection Agency announced Thursday that it will draft standards for wastewater that drillers would have to meet before sending it to treatment plants.
In Niagara Falls, environmental groups and others say importing chemical-laden waste should be the last thing Niagara Falls should consider, given its experience with the Love Canal environmental disaster. An entire neighborhood was emptied in the 1970s after toxins dumped by Hooker Chemicals and Plastics Corp. into an abandoned canal in the 1940s and ’50s were found to have seeped into basements and backyards, creating panic over birth defects and cancer no teletrack payday loans. President Jimmy Carter declared a federal emergency in 1978, and in 1980 the Superfund cleanup act was born.
Once treated, the fracking wastewater, to be brought in by truck or rail, would either be discharged into the Niagara River upstream of Niagara Falls or be reused in drilling, Roll said. The Niagara River flows between lakes Erie and Ontario, forming a border between western New York and Ontario, Canada.
A coalition of local opponents submitted 25 questions to the water board, and about 15 members attended a board meeting Thursday night hoping for answers about the potential environmental impacts to the river and adjoining lakes, costs, safety, possible impacts on human health and the handling of radiation brought to the surface from deep shale wells.
“We should be learning from past mistakes instead of risking our water so we can accept New York state’s hydrofracking waste,” said Rita Yelda, an organizer for Food & Water Watch, an environmental advocacy group.
“Niagara Falls is known for its tourism, its beautiful scenery,” Yelda said. “A large part of their revenue is tourism, people coming in to see Niagara Falls. How will that be impacted by the increased truck traffic and what they’re releasing into Niagara Falls?”
The Council on Canadians, a social justice advocacy group, also is among those pushing Niagara Falls to scrap the idea.
“Last year the (United Nations) passed two resolutions recognizing water as a human right, and this proposal to treat fracking fluids threatens people’s human right to safe and clean drinking water,” the Ottawa-based group said in a Sept. 22 letter to the water board.
The board took no action Thursday.
Earlier in the day, Roll stressed the board is only just beginning to research feasibility testing, regulatory requirements and potential revenue “to make sure it’s not just workable but it makes sense for everyone to participate.”
The Niagara Falls treatment plant was designed to handle waste from the city’s once booming industrial base of electrochemical, organic chemical, ceramics and electrometallurgical plants, Roll said. It already processes imported landfill leachate from three customers that bring the waste by truck, he said.
“We’ve been developing that trade for the past 15 years or so, and that has had the same effect,” he said. “It’s unused capacity that is sitting there waiting to be taken advantage of, and we have a duty to try to make our utility as economically viable as possible for everyone.”
New York environmental regulators last month formally issued proposed regulations for hydraulic fracturing in the Marcellus Shale and scheduled four public hearings. The state hasn’t allowed fracking since it began drafting new permitting rules three years ago.
In neighboring Pennsylvania, nearly 4,000 wells have been drilled in the past few years and tens of thousands more are planned.
A new wrinkle of disagreement has emerged in Missouri’s special legislative session on business incentives: State lawmakers and Gov. Jay Nixon now apparently are at odds over the production of military fighter jets.
The dispute comes after the Missouri House took a roughly half hour break from its debate last week over a wide-ranging business-incentive bill to instead discuss and pass a resolution urging Congress to provide full funding for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program. Although the plane is made by Lockheed Martin Corp. in Texas, the House resolution notes that its supplying companies employ more than 500 people in Missouri.
Nixon responded with a written statement last week asserting that the House resolution “simply is not the position of the state of Missouri.” Instead, the governor emphasized Missouri’s support for Boeing Co., makes the F/A-18 jet in St. Louis. Boeing said it employs about 15,000 people in Missouri, including about 5,000 connected with the F/A-18.
Was the House resolution a slap to one of Missouri’s biggest employers? Or was Nixon overreacting to a symbolic gesture that has no real effect?
The resolution’s sponsor, state Rep. Caleb Jones, R-California, said Monday that he had not intended to stir up controversy.
“I’m a big fan of Boeing _ they’re one of our largest employers in the state and I strongly support them,” said Jones, the vice chairman of the House Economic Development Committee. “I also support different companies from throughout Missouri.”
Jones said he sponsored the resolution at the request of a representative of a supplier, though he said Monday that he could not recall the person or the company’s name.
“If this resolution was going to cost Missouri jobs, I wouldn’t have done it,” he said.
The resolution passed the House 127-7, with most of the discussion focused on whether lawmakers were wasting their time on a measure that carried little more importance than a greeting card to Congress, instead of debating their own economic development legislation. Among those voting for the resolution was Rep. Clem Smith, D-St. Louis, a machinist for Boeing.
Representatives ultimately also passed a business incentive bill that would cut corporate income taxes and create new tax credits for computer data centers and international exporters, among others.
Underlying Nixon’s opposition to the House fighter-jet resolution is a concern that Boeing and Lockheed Martin could be in competition to make fighter jets in the future and a desire to avoid more immediate budget cuts to either the F/A-18 or F-35 programs as President Barack Obama and Congress search for ways to reduce the national debt.
Nixon spokesman Sam Murphey on Monday reiterated the governor’s concern about the House’s action.
“This resolution passed by the House last week simply was not the position of the state of Missouri, and it was important for us to clarify the state’s position,” Murphey said.
A Boeing spokesman declined to say whether the company viewed the House resolution as detrimental to its business. Instead the company issued a written statement saying: “We commend Gov. Nixon for his strong commitment to business in the state of Missouri and appreciate his efforts on behalf of the men and women of Boeing.”
Trying to describe the topsy-turvy economy leads folks to reach for all sorts of analogies.
This week, the president of the National Retail Federation said the post-Great Recession consumer is kind of like the tortoise.
“We all remember the fable of the tortoise and the hare,” Matthew Shay said during a conference call with reporters. “Looking at this as a marathon versus a sprint, we think this year there’s nothing wrong with being the tortoise.”
He was talking about group’s forecast that holiday retail spending this year will grow 2.8 percent. In other words, while some people might be disappointed by the painfully slow recovery, at least the economy
Last week, the government tabled Bill C-11, the latest attempt to reform Canadian copyright law. The bill mirrors its previous copyright bill and is expected to sail through the House of Commons with committee hearings that will pick up where they left off in March.
When Bill C-32 was introduced in June 2010, many noted that there was a lot to like in the bill, but that the digital lock provisions, which give locks on DVDs, CDs, and electronic books enhanced legal protections, constituted a glaring problem that undermined much of the attempt to strike a balance.
The effect of the rules is that consumer rights found in the bill are lost when the copyright owner installs a digital lock that can restrict access.
Consumers purchasing DVDs from foreign countries may find they will not play on Canadian DVD players and students may be restricted from copying portions of their electronic books for class assignments.
In trying to understand the government
The economy is showing signs of modest improvement
Russia’s influential finance minister resigned Monday following a televised confrontation with President Dmitry Medvedev, who had angrily demanded that Alexei Kudrin immediately explain his criticism of Medvedev’s policies or step down.
The open tension within Russia’s leadership follows the announcement over the weekend that Prime Minister Vladimir Putin plans to return to the presidency next year and Medvedev would then take his old job as prime minister. Russia will have a presidential vote despite the backroom maneuvering, but Putin is sure to win it.
The departure of Kudrin is likely to unsettle investors. He has been finance minister since 2000 and his tight hold over the budget has been seen as the key to Russia’s economic stability.
“It is difficult to see how Mr. Kudrin’s resignation can be anything but market-negative,” said Neil Shearing, chief Emerging Markets economist at Capital Economics Ltd in London. “With oil prices starting to slide and financial markets still jittery, now is not a good time for the government to lose its arch-fiscal hawk.”
Speaking over the weekend, Kudrin said he would refuse to serve if Medvedev was made prime minister because of disagreements over policy, including plans to substantially boost military spending.
Addressing Kudrin on Monday, Medvedev called the minister’s remarks “irresponsible chatter” and “improper,” especially since they were made in the United States while the minister was in Washington for meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.
“If you disagree with the course set by the president and being implemented by the government, you have only one choice: Resign,” Medvedev said.
Kudrin said he would decide only after talking to Putin.
“You can seek the advice of whomever you want, but as long as I’m president, such decisions are made by me,” Medvedev retorted.
The Kremlin said Medvedev signed a decree on Kudrin’s resignation. Kudrin confirmed that he had quit in brief remarks reported by state news agencies.
Kudrin has been widely credited with helping Russia weather the 2008-2009 global financial crisis. During Putin’s presidency from 2000 to 2008, Kudrin stashed some of the revenue from Russia’s oil exports in a stabilization fund, despite strong opposition from other ministers who wanted to spend the money. But when the financial crisis hit and oil prices sank sharply those savings proved crucial in reducing the blow to Russia’s economy.
Some market analysts speculated that Kudrin’s departure could have a greater effect on Russia’s economy than the 2012 presidential election itself.
“It is unlikely that Mr. Kudrin’s replacement will share his predecessor’s credentials and clout,” Shearing wrote in a note to investors.
Before last weekend, Kudrin had been mentioned as a possible prime minister under Putin if Putin returns to the presidency.
Italian luxury fashion house Prada SpA says first-half profit surged on strong sales of leather goods such as bags and wallets to Chinese and other Asian customers.
Prada said net income jumped 74 percent to euros 179.5 million ($244 million) in the six months to July 31, from euros 103 million the year before. Revenue rose 21 percent to euros 1.13 billion.
Asia-Pacific sales grew an “outstanding” 35 percent to euros 368 million in the first half, with the Greater China region making the biggest contribution, the company said Monday in its first earnings report since listing on Hong Kong’s stock exchange in June.
Asia accounted for the biggest portion of Prada’s sales, ahead of both Italy and Europe as a whole. The company’s other brands _ Miu Miu, Church’s and Car Shoes _ also had strong Asian sales growth.
Prada, which is known for stylish leather handbags, said leather goods played a big role in boosting sales in Asia.
Revenue growth in Asia was boosted by 31 percent sales growth at existing stores as well as the opening of nine new stores in the year to July 31.
Milan-based Prada became the first Italian company to go public in Hong Kong, raising $2.4 billion in an initial public offering aimed at raising awareness of its brand among China’s growing number of wealthy and brand-conscious consumers.
Prada and other foreign companies selling luxury goods are betting that China’s strong economic growth, increasing urbanization and higher spending by the rich will drive sales growth.