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Business news briefs: AEO will incur loss due to closure of kids' division
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American Eagle Outfitters Inc. said in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission that it expects to incur an after-tax loss of $35 million to $50 million on charges related to closing its 77kids by american eagle chain, including 22 stores and an online operation. The South Side retailer in May announced plans to get out of the business.
Marcus Agius, the chairman of Barclays, resigned Monday, less than a week after the British bank agreed to pay $450 million to settle accusations that it had tried to manipulate key interest rates to benefit its own bottom line. Mr. Agius will remain as chairman until a successor has been found. Barclays announced Monday that it will conduct an independent audit of its business practices.
Apple Inc. has paid $60 million to settle a dispute in China over ownership of the iPad name, a court announced Monday, removing a potential obstacle to sales of the tablet computer in the key Chinese market. Apple's dispute with Shenzhen Proview Technology highlighted the possible pitfalls for global companies in China's trademark system. The Cupertino, Calif.-based company says it bought the global rights to the iPad name from Proview in 2009, but Chinese authorities say the rights in China were never transferred.
U.S. manufacturing shrank in June for the first time in nearly three years. Production declined, the number of new orders plunged and exports dropped, according to a monthly report released Monday by the Institute for Supply Management. The trade group of purchasing managers said its index of manufacturing activity fell to 49.7. That's down from 53.5 in May. And it's the lowest reading since July 2009. Readings below 50 indicate contraction.
European aerospace giant Airbus announced its first assembly plant in the United States on Monday, a symbolic and significant step in the competition with archrival Boeing. The French-based company said the Alabama plant is expected to cost $600 million to build and will employ 1,000 people when it reaches full production, likely to be four planes a month by 2017. Airbus CEO Fabrice Bregier, addressing a crowd in Mobile, said the management to the blue-collar workers "will be 100 percent American."
A surge in homebuilding pushed U.S. construction spending up by the largest amount in five months. Construction spending rose 0.9 percent in May from April, the Commerce Department reported Monday. The May increase pushed spending to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $830 billion, which is roughly half of what economists consider to be healthy. Spending on both residential and nonresidential projects rose in May, but spending on public projects fell to the lowest level since November 2006.
First Published July 3, 2012 12:00 am
