BUSINESS BRIEFS
Manufactured goods orders rise
Associated Press
WASHINGTON — Orders for manufactured goods posted a surprisingly strong increase in April as demand rose in a number of areas including heavy machinery, iron and steel.
The Commerce Department reported yesterday that orders were up 1.1 percent in April following a 1.5 percent increase in March.
Those gains followed big declines in January and March that raised concerns about how much pain manufacturing industries would feel from the severe economic slowdown hitting housing and the financial sector.
MORTGAGE UNIT NEEDS $2B IN CASH
NEW YORK — Residential Capital LLC, the mortgage lending unit of GMAC LLC, said yesterday it needs more than three times more cash to stay in business than it estimated just weeks ago.
ResCap estimates it now needs about $2 billion in cash by the end of June to meet liquidity demands, according to a regulatory filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
It previously estimated it needed just $600 million by the end of the month.
BORDERS CUTS 274 CORPORATE JOBS
NEW YORK — The financially troubled Borders book chain said yesterday that it would lay off 274 corporate employees, representing 20 percent of its corporate workforce, as part of a planned $120-million cut in annual expenses.
None of the layoffs will affect employees in the chain's 574 Borders superstores and 475 Waldenbooks Specialty Retail stores.
The cuts represent less than 1 percent of the company's total workforce, according to a statement from Borders.
Borders Group Inc., the nation's second-largest book chain, said in May that it would be making these cuts "to put us in a better place for the future and because our overhead expenses are not in line with the nature of our business today," corporate spokeswoman Anne Roman said.
"We're going to be turning over every stone and looking at every opportunity to reach this financial goal."
GLOOMY FORECAST FOR HOMEBUILDERS
LOS ANGELES — Homebuilder D.R. Horton said yesterday the industry could face tough times until 2010, and underscoring that point, Toll Bros. reported its third straight quarterly loss.
Homebuilders are struggling to sell their homes at a time when many buyers remain reluctant to enter the market because they expect home prices will continue to slide.
Write-downs were the biggest problem for Toll Brothers Inc., the Horsham, Pa.-based luxury homebuilder.
Toll reported a loss of $93.7 million, or 59 cents a share, for the period ended April 30.
That was better than the 89-cent loss per share expected by analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial, but far worse than the year-ago profit of $36.7 million, or 22 cents a share.
CARRIER CORP. HIKING PRICES
FARMINGTON, Conn. — Carrier Corp. said yesterday it will raise prices on its heating, ventilation and air conditioning equipment in North America because of higher commodity costs.
The price hikes apply to residential and commercial equipment. Those increases will be as much as 6 percent and take place by mid-July.
Greg Hayes, vice president of accounting and finance at Carrier's parent company United Technologies Corp., told analysts in New York that rising transportation costs also are putting pressure on prices. Copper prices are up 10 percent over last year and steel and aluminum prices also have risen, he said.
"It's just simply the reality of the marketplace," Hayes said. "Costs have gone up and we're pushing the price across most of our businesses on the commercial side."
Shares of United Technologies closed down 97 cents, or 1.4 percent, at $69.76.
