CINGULAR TO PAY $5.1 MILLION IN BACK WAGES
Date: 14 January 2005
By Bloomberg News
Bloomberg News
Cingular Wireless will pay $5.11 million in back wages to 25,351 customer-service employees to settle Labor Department charges it violated federal overtime laws; Cingular does not admit liability (S)
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PROFIT AT KENNETH COLE FELL IN FOURTH QUARTER
Date: 14 January 2005
By Bloomberg News
Bloomberg News
Kenneth Cole Productions says fourth-quarter profit unexpectedly fell, hurt by weak December sales; earnings fell to 43 cents to 45 cents per share, based on preliminary ersults, below company's previous estimate of 55 cents to 56 cents and its year-earlier income of $10.2 million, or 49 cents per share (S)
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BORDERS RAISES FORECAST FOR FOURTH-QUARTER EARNINGS
Date: 13 January 2005
By Bloomberg News
Bloomberg News
Bookstore chain Borders Group raises forecast for fourth-quarter earnings after holiday sales rose more than expected; total sales rose 4.8 percent from Oct 25 through Jan 9, while sales at superstores open at least one year incresed 1.4 percent during holiday season; sales also rose at Borders stores overseas (S)
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LEAR CUTS OUTLOOK FOR YEAR AS COST OF MATERIALS RISES
Date: 14 January 2005
By Bloomberg News
Bloomberg News
Lear Corp says net income in 2005 will be $5 to $6 per share, less than analysts expected (S)
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ZEON UNIT PLEADS GUILTY TO JUSTICE DEPT. CHARGES
Date: 13 January 2005
By Bloomberg News
Bloomberg News
Zeon Corp unit Zeon Chemicals agrees to pay fine of $10.5 million and pleads guilty to charges of fixing prices of synthetic rubber (S)
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U.S. AGENCY ACCUSES SIDLEY LAW FIRM OF AGE BIAS
Date: 14 January 2005
By Bloomberg News
Bloomberg News
Sidley Austin Brown & Wood, law firm with more than 1,500 lawyers, is sued by Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, which accused firm of firing older partners or forcing them to retire; suit says in 1999 overhaul, Sidley fired or demoted 31 lawyers over 40 years old because of age; firm has mandatory retirement age of 60, violation of federal law; Sidley says suit is without merit (S)
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Rally in Semiconductor Issues Spreads to Broader Indexes
Date: 13 January 2005
By Bloomberg News
Bloomberg News
Stocks gained yesterday, aided by a rally in semiconductor shares after Intel said sales this quarter would beat analysts' estimates. The benchmark indexes erased earlier declines that followed disappointing earnings from United Parcel Service and an unexpected widening of the nation's trade deficit.
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Technology Briefing | Telecommunications: Carphone Warehouse Raises Forecast
Date: 14 January 2005
By Bloomberg News
Bloomberg News
The Carphone Warehouse Group, the largest European mobile phone retailer, said yesterday that annual profit would beat previous forecasts after demand for the latest phone designs surged in the last quarter. Pretax profit in the year ending in March will exceed £100 million ($189 million), beating an earlier prediction, the chief financial officer, Roger W. Taylor, said in an interview. In the 13 weeks to Dec. 25, the company connected 23 percent more people and increased retail sales 25 percent from a year earlier. The company, which is based in London and owns 1,329 stores across Europe, is benefiting from the growth of the cellphone market as prices fall and consumers seek new clamshell-shaped phones. The global handset market grew 26 percent, to 167 million units, in the third quarter of 2004, according to Gartner. The chief executive, Charles W. Dunstone, said yesterday that he was ''confident of delivering a full-year result ahead of current consensus market expectations.'' Mr. Taylor said consumers were attracted by cheaper phones and offers for prepaid cards. Shares of Carphone Warehouse rose 12 pence, or 7.6 percent, to 170 pence in London.
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World Business Briefing | Europe: Britain: Encouraging Sales At Grocer
Date: 14 January 2005
By Bloomberg News
Bloomberg News
British supermarket chain J Sainsbury says sales at stores open at least one year fell 1.2 percent in three months to Jan 1, compared with 1.1 percent decline in prior period; pace of decline slowed to 0.4 percent during Christmas holiday period; graph (S)
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2 Firms Bid for Travel Service
Date: 13 January 2005
By Bloomberg News
Bloomberg News
Cinven and BC Partners, managers of two of Europe's largest buyout funds, bid to acquire Amadeus Global Travel Distribution in transaction that values Amadeus, world's biggest travel reservation company, at about 4.3 million euros, or $5.6 billion; Air France-KLM Group, Deutsche Lufthansa and Iberia Lineas Aereas de Espana own 46 percent of Amadeus (M)
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