Business in brief: Avista agrees to buy wood energy
Avista Utilities has agreed to buy electricity generated by a thermal wood waste plant in Plummer, Idaho.
The deal calls for the Spokane utility to buy up to 6.5 megawatts of power from Stimson Lumber Co. That’s enough electricity to provide power to about 4,200 homes.
The agreement, approved by the Idaho Public Utilities Commission on Friday, also gives Avista first right to buy any excess power.
The Stimson plant had been operated by HaleyWest LLC.
Chicago
Motorola cutting 3,500 jobs
Motorola Inc. said Friday it is cutting 3,500 jobs and taking other steps to reduce costs after misjudgments on pricing and sales forecasts for its high-end phones contributed to its least profitable quarter since 2004.
The move came as the world’s No. 2 cell-phone maker reported a 48 percent decline in fourth-quarter earnings, to $624 million, on a steep drop in profitability in the handset business.
Chief Executive Ed Zander announced the cuts at an analysts’ meeting in New York, saying Motorola can save about $400 million over two years by eliminating 5 percent of its work force.
But while calling the most recent results disappointing, Zander dismissed any need for a change in overall strategy as some analysts urged when the shortfall in sales and profits was disclosed two weeks ago. He said continuing strong demand for the trendsetting Razr and its offshoot phones puts the company in position to return to double-digit operating margins in the second half of 2007.
Paris
UPS undecided on Airbus purchase
Parcel delivery company UPS, the last remaining customer for the cargo version of the Airbus A380, said Friday it hadn’t decided whether to cancel its order for the superjumbo jets.
French business daily Les Echos, citing unidentified sources, reported Friday that United Parcel Service Inc. would cancel its order for 10 A380s next week. Such a move has long been rumored, and would mark the latest defection from the long-delayed superjumbo.
One UPS spokesman, Mark Giuffre, said the company was in discussions as recently as Thursday about the Airbus order.
Lafayette, La.
Lawsuit claims 127 scam victims
A Florida-based investment scam cheated at least 127 people around the country of a total of $3.7 million by promising big returns from buying and selling world currency futures, a federal agency alleges.
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission announced Thursday that it had sued UForex Consulting LLC of Sunny Isles Beach, Fla.; Paulo Correa, 57, of North Miami Beach; and Mario Garcia, 39, of Hialeah, in federal district court in Lafayette, La.
Correa “withdrew, transferred or dissipated” more than $2 million, including $332,000 in checks to himself, $50,000 in condo payments, $36,000 for electronics and $4,620 for restaurant meals and groceries, according to a lawsuit filed Jan. 9.