Business news in brief

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“With many unavoidable foreclosures still in the pipeline, it’s clear that we have a hard road ahead.”

Raphael Bostic,

assistant secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Article, 1DBancorpSouth net income drops 47%

Net income dropped almost 50 percent in the third quarter for BancorpSouth Inc., which has the sixth-largest bank in Arkansas, the lender said Monday.

BancorpSouth, based in Tupelo, Miss., earned $11.3 million in the third quarter, down 47 percent from $21.5 million a year ago. Earnings per share were 13 cents, compared with 26 cents.

BancorpSouth fell 14 cents to close at $14.43 Monday in trading on the Nasdaq exchange.

The reason for the decline was a $32 million increase in BancorpSouth’s provision for credit losses, said Aubrey Patterson, the bank’s chairman and chief executive officer.

BancorpSouth has 60 offices in Arkansas and $14.9 billion in deposits, accounting for almost 4 percent of the state’s market.

The Tupelo bank has 312 locations in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Tennessee and Texas.

Tape Walkman on last legs in Japan

TOKYO - Sony is sending its cassette-tape Walkman into retirement in Japan as demand for a music player that was groundbreaking in its day dwindles to a tiny niche in the era of digital technology.

Sony stopped Japanese production of the portable music player in April, and sales will end once the last batch disappears from stores, company spokesman Hiroko Nakamura said Monday.

Sony will continue production of the cassette Walkman in China to accommodate users abroad, including in the U.S., Europe and some Asian countries, Nakamura said.

Sony has sold 220 million cassette Walkman players globally since the product’s July 1979 debut that changed lifestyles by popularizing music on the go.

Office Depot chief resigns after fine

BOCA RATON, Fla. - Office Depot Inc.’s Chairman and CEO Steve Odland is stepping down by mutual agreement with the board.

The disclosure Monday that Odland has resigned comes only days after the company, Odland and another executive agreed to pay civil penalties tied to Office Depot’s disclosure of corporate information to a select group of investors and analysts.

Office Depot also announced that it expects to report a profit for the third quarter. Wall Street analysts had expected a small loss.

The company based in Boca Raton reported last week that it agreed to pay $1 million to settle federal charges that it overstated earnings and shared information with a select group of investors and analysts that it failed to include in public filings. Odland and former Chief Financial Officer Patricia McKay agreed to pay civil penalties of $50,000.

Odland’s departure is effective next Monday.

The company said lead director and former National Football League President Neil Austrian will step in as interim chairman and CEO.

Toyota’s production down; rivals’ up

TOKYO - Toyota’s global production fell in September for the first time in a year, while rivals Honda and Nissan increased output thanks to strong demand in China.

Toyota Motor Corp. said Monday that its worldwide production dropped 1.3 percent to 672,604 vehicles, marking the first year-on-year decrease in 12 months. The world’s No. 1 automaker said the fall was the result of weak production in Europe and North America.

Toyota’s production in Europe sank 29.7 percent to 40,630 vehicles because of sluggish sales in Britain and Turkey. The company’s output in North America slipped 4.1 percent year-on-year to 122,649 vehicles in September.

The fall in North American production was the result of declining output in the United States after Toyota closed its auto plant - a joint venture between Toyota and General Motors Co.- in California in April.

Toyota’s rivals enjoyed rising growth in output because of strong demand in China. Honda Motor Co. said its global production in September rose 9.2 percent to 328,368 vehicles, up for the 10th consecutive month.

Nissan Motor Co. said its worldwide production grew 27.2 percent to 395,658 vehicles in September, marking the 20th consecutive month of year-on-year increases.

Carlyle in talks to buy CommScope

NEW YORK - CommScope Inc. is talking to assetmanagement firm Carlyle Group about being taken private in a deal valued at about $2.98 billion.

The network infrastructure company said Monday that Carlyle Group would pay $31.50 per share in cash, a 36 percent premium over its closing price Friday. Comm-Scope currently has 94.7 million outstanding shares, according to Thomson Reuters.

Shares of CommScope jumped $7.04, or 30.5 percent, to 30.16 in Monday trading. The stock has traded in the 52-week range of $18.39 to $34.95.

CommScope said it has yet to reach a deal and will not make further comments until it’s deemed appropriate.

Carlyle invests in a wide range of industries, with about 8 percent of its holdings in consumer and retail companies. It closed on its $3.8 billion buyout of vitamin maker NBTY earlier this month.

CommScope, based in Hickory, N.C., makes fiber-optic and other cables for telephone, cable and Internet service providers. Its customers include Alcatel-Lucent Inc., AT&T Inc. and Vodafone Group PLC, according to Capital IQ.

Port business rises 14% at DP World

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates - Port operator DP World said Monday that business at its cargo terminals rose 14 percent in the third quarter, reflecting a pickup in global trade as the world economy shows signs of recovery.

The strongest gains came at ports the company manages in Asia, the Americas and Australia. The Dubai-based firm is the world’s fourth-largest seaport operator, with a strong focus on the developing world.

It said it handled the equivalent of 13 million 20-foot shipping containers between July and September, up from 11.4 million in the same period a year ago.

Chief Executive Mohammed Sharaf described the volume of cargo containers as “back in line with 2008 peak levels.”

Business, Pages 24 on 10/26/2010

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