BUSINESS BRIEFS
Goodyear beats profit forecast; shares bid up 6%
Associated Press
CLEVELAND — Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. said yesterday that it swung to a profit in the first quarter by focusing on higher-priced tires and strong international markets. But the company says it will cut tire production in North America, where sales have been sluggish.
The results from Goodyear, the world's third-largest tiremaker and No. 1 in the U.S., beat Wall Street expectations and its shares rose 6 percent.
Goodyear said it earned $147 million, or 60 cents per share, in the quarter that ended March 31, compared with a loss of $174 million, or 96 cents per share, in the same period in 2007. Sales rose to $4.94 billion from $4.5 billion a year ago.
Excluding one-time charges, Goodyear earned 67 cents per share from continuing operations.
Analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial had expected earnings of 47 cents per share. Such estimates usually exclude special items.
N.Y. DAILY NEWS PURSUES NEWSDAY
NEW YORK — The owner of the New York Daily News offered $580 million to acquire Newsday from Tribune Co., matching a bid earlier in the week by Rupert Murdoch's News Corp, The Associated Press was told.
A person familiar with the situation, but who declined to be identified because of the confidential nature of the offer, confirmed that real estate developer Mortimer Zuckerman offered $580 million to buy the Long Island daily late yesterday.
The source said the deal involved a "significant amount of cash and other considerations," but would not provide further specifics.
Zuckerman's Daily News is the rival tabloid to Murdoch's New York Post.
News Corp., which also owns The Wall Street Journal, offered $580 million for Newsday in a surprise move earlier this week. Published reports had characterized the deal as being near completion.
UAL'S CHAIRMAN PAID $1.4M IN '07
CHICAGO — UAL Corp. Chairman and CEO Glenn Tilton received compensation valued at $1.4 million from the United Airlines parent in 2007, down from $39.7 million a year earlier when he got about $38 million in stock and option awards after the company emerged from bankruptcy.
But Tilton stands to get $11.9 million in compensation if there is a change in control at United, the company said in a regulatory filing yesterday. The amount is based on UAL's stock price at the end of 2007.
United is widely believed to be working toward joining with either Continental Airlines Inc. or US Airways Group Inc. as airline industry consolidation steps up in the face of the slowing economy and spiking fuel prices. Tilton's base salary in 2007 was $850,000, up 24 percent from the previous year. He also received $422,425 in non-equity incentive plan compensation and $155,968 in other compensation.
NINTENDO WON'T LOWER WII PRICES
TOKYO — Nintendo does not plan to cut prices of its popular Wii gaming console or DS handheld game system anytime soon, the company's president said yesterday.
While the price of hardware is usually reduced over time, that could leave gamers who bought early feeling ripped off, Satoru Iwata said a day after the company reported record annual profits.
"I don't think that model is correct," Iwata said, despite signs that sales of the DS may be tapering off.
The Wii retails for about $250 in the U.S. and 25,000 yen in Japan, unchanged since its launch in November 2006. In contrast, Sony has slashed the price of its 20-gigabyte PlayStation 3 twice so far to boost demand.
Nintendo Co. expects to sell 28.0 million DS units this year through March 2009, down from 30.3 million last year. Iwata said that while sales in Japan have slowed, the DS maintains strong momentum in the United States and Europe, with considerable room for growth.
