In the Region
Allfirst earned $23.8 million in 2nd quarter
Allfirst Financial Inc. reported yesterday that it earned $23.8 million in the second quarter, which ended June 30, compared with a $23 million loss in the quarter a year ago.
For the first six months of this year, the Baltimore-based banking company, a subsidiary of Allied Irish Banks PLC in Dublin, Ireland, posted a profit of $61.6 million. Allfirst lost $4.3 million in the first two quarters last year,.
Total loans in the second quarter were $10.6 billion, about the same as the year before. Noninterest income reached $97.6 million in the quarter, compared with a loss of $17.8 million the year before because of foreign exchange losses.
In February, Allfirst said it lost $691.2 million in a trading scandal that the bank blamed on a rogue trader. During the first half of the year, Allfirst took a $13.7 million pretax charge to cover the cost of the special investigation into the trading scandal.
USAir to continue serving 203 cities, drops Saginaw
US Airways' bankruptcy reorganization plans don't include eliminating service to any of the 204 cities in its network, with the exception of Saginaw, Mich., company officials said yesterday.
Air Midwest, a US Airways affiliate, made an "independent business decision" to end service between Pittsburgh and Saginaw beginning Sept. 7 because of low bookings, said the airline.
US Airways Group Inc. filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Sunday, saying it would eliminate certain planes and trim staff as part of a restructuring plan. The airline is expected to reduce the frequency of flights to some cities and begin serving others with smaller regional jets. The carrier also plans to use hundreds of regional jets to feed more passengers to its main hubs in Pittsburgh, Philadelphia and Charlotte, N.C.
Corporate Office trust buys 2 Va. office buildings
Corporate Office Properties Trust said yesterday that it has purchased two office buildings in Chantilly, Va., for $48 million, continuing to add to its portfolio and expand its reach into Northern Virginia.
The buildings have a total of 290,245 square feet. They are in the Route 28 corridor within the Westfields Corporate Center, south of Dulles International Airport. They are 98 percent leased.
The Columbia trust also has the right to purchase a 6-acre development parcel nearby. The company now has 760,000 square feet of office space in Northern Virginia.
Marriott to pay $115,000 over Arab-American claim
Marriott International Inc. has agreed to pay $115,000 and apologize to an Arab-American group for refusing to honor its reservations at an Iowa hotel after the attacks of Sept. 11.
The Midwest Federation of American Syrian-Lebanese Clubs claimed that on the afternoon of Sept. 11, the Marriott hotel in Des Moines revoked its offer to be host of the group's annual convention this year. The Justice Department investigated the group's complaint and negotiated a settlement with Marriott, the world's biggest lodging company.
Marriott agreed to pay $100,000 to endow a scholarship fund overseen by the federation, pay $15,000 to be a corporate sponsor of this year's convention and issue a formal apology, Justice Department officials said.
Elsewhere
Boeing contract for Air Force planes worth $9.7 billion
Boeing Co. won a $9.7 billion contract to build 60 transport planes for the Air Force, the Pentagon announced yesterday. The contract calls for the Chicago-based company to deliver the new C-17 Globemaster planes by 2008.
Boeing has been eager to land the contract as shrinking orders from the ailing airline industry have hurt its commercial airline business. The company has cut production in half since Sept. 11 and issued layoff notices to about 30,000 workers.
Congress also has approved Defense Department plans to lease 100 Boeing 767s as military refueling tankers and four 737s to carry administration officials and lawmakers.
Tyco extends its audit as far back as 1999
Tyco International Ltd. has expanded an internal investigation into its finances to include accounting practices dating back to 1999.
Company spokesman Gary Holmes said yesterday that Tyco does not envision making "material adjustments" to its past financial results. He also said Tyco cannot predict the results or duration of a review of the company's accounting by the Securities and Exchange Commission.
In a filing with the SEC, Tyco said the SEC has required the company to reclassify some items. The filing said the SEC also is looking at accounting issues including the adequacy of some disclosures and the company's accounting treatment of security-monitoring contracts, and how Tyco integrated companies it acquired.
Genuity says it might seek bankruptcy protection
Genuity Inc., a seller of high-speed Internet access, has "substantial doubt" about whether it can keep operating and may seek bankruptcy protection, it said in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing.
Genuity, which defaulted last month on $3 billion in loans, listed the default in the SEC document as a possible reason for seeking bankruptcy protection. It also has incurred "significant losses and negative cash flow from operations," which it expects to continue.
Genuity spokesman John Vincenzo said the SEC filing yesterday is a disclosure requirement as the company tries to restructure. He declined to comment further.
9 accused of defrauding golfers of $5.9 million
Nine men operated a telemarketing scheme that defrauded golfers out of $5.8 million by charging nonrefundable security deposits to test what turned out to be inferior golf clubs, prosecutors said.
Telemarketers for Professional Golf Products would call golfers and offer them the chance to test golf clubs allegedly worth $2,500 if the victim agreed to pay a security deposit of as much as $1,600, prosecutors said. The victim was then sent a set of "cheap" clubs and when the victims complained, Professional Golf refused to refund the money, said the U.S. attorney in Los Angeles.
The defendants, residents of Los Angeles and Orange counties, face charges of mail fraud and wire fraud. Each count carries a maximum penalty of 10 years.
Programmer to pay $76,000 to settle insider-trading case
A former Genentech Inc. computer programmer agreed to pay $76,000 to settle charges that she profited from inside information about a pivotal drug experiment, the Securities and Exchange Commission said yesterday.
Lei Wang, 32, was responsible for analyzing clinical trial results of the psoriasis drug Xanelim, which was being jointly developed by Genentech and Xoma Ltd.
The day she learned that the trial's results would not pass Food and Drug Administration scrutiny, the SEC said, she sold 4,400 shares of Xoma's stock and then bet that its share price would fall by short-selling. Two days later, when the disappointing trial results were publicly announced, Xoma's stock dropped 42 percent and Wang reaped nearly $51,000 in profit.
SEC probes XO over paying of taxes on calling cards
The Securities and Exchange Commission is investigating whether bankrupt XO Communications paid the appropriate taxes on sales of its prepaid calling cards over the past three years.
The company acknowledged the inquiry in its quarterly statement Wednesday.
XO, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in June, said the SEC inquiry deals with possible sales and excise tax liabilities from its calling card sales as far back as 1999. The company said its revenue from those sales totaled $56 million.
This column was compiled from reports by Sun staff writers, the Associated Press and Bloomberg News.