Company News: IBM to lay off 1,300 U.S. workers

Some 1,300 workers in IBM Corp. services operations in the United States have received notices that their jobs are slated for elimination, according to a labor group.

The Alliance at IBM, a union organization affiliated with the Communication Workers of America, which is trying to organize IBM workers, said it had received information about the planned job actions from IBM employees across the United States.

“It’s bad,” said Lee Conrad, a member of the Alliance Governing Council in Endicott, N.Y.

Under IBM’s normal procedures, the workers have a set period of time to find another job for which they are qualified at IBM, before they are actually laid off.

IBM had 355,766 employees at the end of 2006.

“Sirius Satellite Radio Inc. on Tuesday reported a narrower loss for its first quarter compared with the same period a year ago, when it recorded $225 million in expenses for stock paid to Howard Stern.

Net loss narrowed to $144.7 million or 10 cents per share versus $458.5 million or 33 cents per share in the same period a year ago, slightly better than the 11 cents per share loss that analysts were expecting.

Excluding the Stern payout and other stock-based compensation, the results came in at 8 cents per share versus 13 cents per share in the year-ago period.

“Procter & Gamble Co. said Tuesday that strong growth in developing markets helped power earnings 14 percent higher in the third quarter for the world’s largest consumer product company.

P&G said net income in the three months ended March 31 climbed to $2.51 billion, or 74 cents per share, from $2.21 billion, or 63 cents per share, in the year-earlier period. The Cincinnati company also improved its full-year earnings target on the strong quarterly sales.

“Kroger Co. Chairman and Chief Executive David B. Dillon, who has led the nation’s largest traditional grocery chain to strong growth against increasing competition, received compensation in 2006 valued at some $7.47 million, an analysis of a regulatory filing showed.

The filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission Tuesday showed Dillon’s salary at $1.56 million, with incentive compensation of $2.12 million, and stock awards valued at $4.05 million. Dillon also received other compensation of $142,437, including life insurance premiums and tax offsets.

The filing said Kroger’s compensation committee uses comparisons with 10 other retail companies that sell food and drugs, including Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and Target Inc.