In brief: FTC clears Albertsons’ purchase of Safeway
NEW YORK – Supermarket chain Albertsons said U.S. regulators have approved its purchase of competitor Safeway Inc.
The companies said Tuesday the deal has been cleared by the Federal Trade Commission and should close within five business days.
Albertsons, which is privately held and part-owned by Cerberus Capital Management, agreed to buy Safeway in March for $7.64 billion in cash. The FTC said the sale would hurt consumers in 130 markets by reducing competition, and in December the companies said they would sell 168 stores in eight states.
Most of the stores will be bought by Haggen, a chain based in the Northwest.
iPhones help Apple smash sales records
SAN FRANCISCO – Apple had another blowout quarter thanks to its new, bigger iPhones, which helped the company smash sales records for the holiday season.
Apple said Tuesday it sold 74.5 million iPhones during the three months that ended Dec. 31, beating analysts’ expectations for the latest models of Apple’s most popular gadget, introduced in September.
The surge in iPhone sales drove the company’s total revenue to $74.6 billion, up 30 percent from a year earlier. CEO Tim Cook said on a call with analysts that demand for the phones was “staggering” and noted that results would have been even higher if not for the impact of the strong dollar on overseas sales.
New home sales jump 11.6 percent last month
WASHINGTON – Sales of new U.S. homes accelerated strongly in December, a sign that home-buying may improve this year after a lackluster 2014.
The Commerce Department said Tuesday that new home sales climbed 11.6 percent last month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 481,000. The gains were not enough to offset essentially flat homebuying over the course of 2014. Just 435,000 new homes were bought last year, a modest 1.2 percent improvement from 2013.
American Airlines posts record profits
FORT WORTH, Texas – American Airlines is logging record profits just one year removed from bankruptcy court and a big merger.
The airline is getting a huge lift from cheaper fuel – savings could top $5 billion this year – and travel demand that shows no sign of weakening. CEO Doug Parker said 2015 is shaping up as another strong year.
But amid a broader market selloff, American’s shares fell 5 percent – more than other major U.S. carriers – after the company said a key revenue figure would decline in the first quarter.
American Airlines Group Inc. said Tuesday that fourth-quarter net income was $597 million, reversing a $2 billion loss a year earlier, when one-time costs related to American’s bankruptcy case and the merger with US Airways totaled $2.4 billion.
Excluding one-time costs, the company earned a record $1.1 billion, or $1.52 per share, in the fourth quarter. That was a penny better than expected by analysts, according to Zacks Investment Research.
Consumer confidence at post-recession high
WASHINGTON – U.S. consumers welcomed the new year with a surge in confidence.
The Conference Board reported Tuesday that its consumer confidence index climbed to 102.9 this month to the highest level since August 2007 – four months before the start of the recession. January’s figure was up from a revised 93.1 in December.