Lost contract spurs Boeing to cut jobs
The Boeing Co. will lay off 750 employees after losing a military satellite contract and seeing a dip in demand for the technology, the company said Wednesday.
The cuts involving engineers at plants in El Segundo and Seal Beach, Calif., will take the staff of Boeing Space and Intelligence Systems, the company’s satellite division, from 7,200 employees to about 6,450.
“The stretching out of government contract awards, along with a continuing lighter demand in the commercial marketplace for large, high-powered satellites, has created a surplus in the work force,” satellite division chief Craig Cooning said.
The Pentagon announced last week that it selected Lockheed Martin Corp. over Boeing for an Air Force contract worth up to $3.57 billion to build as many as 12 next-generation global positioning satellites. The deal was the first of three awards intended to supply a total of 32 satellites for the Pentagon’s new GPS III system, and the contract puts Lockheed in a strong position to win the follow-on contracts, analysts said.
•Time Warner Inc. said Wednesday it would split its cable TV business, giving the media firm a $9.25 billion windfall and allowing it to focus on cable network, entertainment and publishing operations.
The separation of Time Warner Cable Inc. gets Time Warner out of the media distribution business altogether, something investors had been clamoring for.
Time Warner Cable is the second-largest cable provider in the country after Comcast Corp. with about 13.3 million video subscribers.
The split-off calls for Time Warner Cable to pay a total dividend of $10.27 per share, or $10.9 billion to all shareholders, of which parent company Time Warner will receive $9.25 billion. Time Warner Cable will fund the dividend with its existing credit facility and a $9 billion, two-year bridge loan from a syndicate of banks, raising its total debt load to $24.2 billion.
•Victor isn’t allowed to have a little secret anymore.
A federal judge has permanently enjoined Victor and Cathy Moseley from using the names “Victor’s Secret” and “Victor’s Little Secret” on their adult novelty and lingerie shop in central Kentucky.
U.S. District Judge Charles Simpson said in a ruling issued Wednesday that the names violate the trademark of Ohio-based lingerie retailer Victoria’s Secret under the Federal Trademark Dilution Act.
“The use of the remarkably similar ‘Victor’s Secret’ or ‘Victor’s Little Secret’ in connection with the sale of intimate lingerie along with sex toys and adult videos tarnishes the reputation of the Victoria’s Secret mark,” Simpson wrote.