BUSINESS BRIEFS
NCL promotes president/CFO to chief executive
Associated Press
NCL Corp. announced yesterday that Kevin Sheehan is replacing Colin Veitch as the Miami-based cruise company's chief executive officer. Sheehan was president and chief financial officer and will keep the president title.
Veitch, who became CEO when Star Cruises purchased NCL in 2000, will remain with the company as an adviser to the board.
NCL Corp. is the parent company of NCL America, which offers Hawaiian Island cruises aboard the U.S.-flagged Pride of America.
For the third quarter ended Sept. 30, the company reported net income of $171.2 million on revenue of $639.0 million, compared with a loss of $8.6 million on revenue of $632.5 million for same period of 2007.
BERKSHIRE REPORTS 77% EARNINGS DROP
OMAHA, Neb. — Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc. yesterday reported a 77 percent drop in third-quarter earnings, hurt by declining insurance profits and a $1.05 billion investment loss.
Net income fell to $1.06 billion, or $682 per Class A share, in the quarter ending Sept. 30. That's down sharply from year-ago profit of $4.55 billion, or $2,942 per share, which included a $2 billion gain aided by the sale of PetroChina stock.
Operating profit in Berkshire's insurance underwriting business, which includes Geico and General Reinsurance, plunged to $81 million from $486 million a year ago.
1.3M SUBSCRIBERS QUIT SPRINT NEXTEL
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Sprint Nextel Corp. watched another 1.3 million wireless subscribers head for its competitors during the third quarter, leading the company to post a loss that sent its stock skidding yesterday.
The nation's third-largest wireless provider said it lost $326 million, or 11 cents per share, for the three months ending Sept. 30. It had earned $64 million, or 2 cents per share, in the same period a year ago.
PENDING HOME SALES TAKE TUMBLE
WASHINGTON — Pending U.S. home sales fell more than expected in September, after posting a big jump in the previous month.
The National Association of Realtors' seasonally adjusted index of pending sales for existing homes fell 4.6 percent yesterday to a reading of 89.2. That's down from an upwardly revised August reading of 93.5.
Economists surveyed by Thomson Reuters expected a September reading of 90.6.
The index was 1.6 percent above year-ago levels.
It sunk to a record low of 83 in March, and stood at 87.8 in September 2007.
YAHOO SHARES FALL AS TAKEOVER FAILS
SYDNEY, Australia — Yahoo Inc. shares dived nearly 13 percent after the chief executive of Microsoft Corp. said yesterday the software giant is not interested in renewing its bid for the struggling Internet company.
Microsoft's Steve Ballmer told a business lunch in Sydney that he had moved on after Yahoo rejected its takeover bid in the spring.
Ballmer did suggest a partnership in the search engine market is possible.
PANASONIC, SANYO DISCUSSING MERGER
TOKYO — Panasonic and smaller Japanese rival Sanyo said yesterday they are starting talks on a buyout deal that would create one of the world's largest electronics companies as soon as year-end.
Panasonic President Fumio Ohtsubo and Sanyo President Seiichiro Sano shook hands at a news conference in Osaka, monitored by satellite TV in Tokyo, underlining their willingness to negotiate Panasonic's acquisition of Sanyo.
