Business news in brief

QUOTE OF THE DAY “We don’t expect to see a sustained burst of inflation. Price pressures are fairly subdued. Retailers don’t have the pricing power to pass along cost increases.”

Sal Guatieri, BMO Capital Markets senior economist Article,1D

Tally of oil, gas rigs in U.S. rises by 24

HOUSTON - Oil-field services company Baker Hughes Inc. said the number of rigs actively exploring for oil and natural gas in the U.S. increased by 24 this week to 1,776.

The Houston-based company said in its weekly report Friday that 1,341 rigs were actively exploring for oil and 431 for gas. Four were listed as miscellaneous. A year ago, Baker Hughes counted 1,984 working rigs.

Of the major oil- and gas-producing states, Louisiana gained eight rigs, Oklahoma seven, Texas three, New Mexico and Pennsylvania two each, and North Dakota and Wyoming one apiece. West Virginia was down one. Alaska, Arkansas, California and Colorado were unchanged.

The rig count peaked at 4,530 in 1981 and bottomed at 488 in 1999.

  • The Associated Press

Billionaire denies move to Puerto Rico

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico - Billionaire hedge-fund manager John Paulson has denied reports he is considering a move to Puerto Rico.

Paulson issued a statement Friday, saying he has no plans to move to the U.S. Caribbean island territory. The New York native said he has only considered real-estate investments in Puerto Rico and vacationed on the island.

His possible move was recently reported by several news media outlets.

The move would have reportedly helped him avoid capital-gains taxes thanks to a change in island tax law that benefits new arrivals.

Such a move would have been unusual. Puerto Rico has been steadily losing population in recent years because of a stagnant economy, high crime and other problems.

  • The Associated Press

Carnival returns to profit despite woes

MIAMI - The world’s largest cruise line has suffered through a series of high-profile mishaps. Yet passengers continue to book vacations thanks to discounts, albeit at a slower pace.

Carnival Cruise Lines offered more sales to help attract passengers after an engine fire last month crippled the Carnival Triumph, leaving 4,200 people stranded for five days without working toilets or power. This week, two more of its ships had mechanical problems, ruining the vacations of thousands of more travelers.

Carnival Corp. earned $37 million, or 5 cents per share, in its first quarter. That compares with a loss of $139 million, or 18 cents per share, a year earlier. But its forecast for the year came in below analyst’s predictions.

On Thursday, the company ended the voyage of the Carnival Dream after the ship’s backup emergency diesel generator failed, causing problems with elevators and toilets. Instead of continuing back to Florida, Carnival was forced to charter airplanes to fly home the ship’s 4,300 passengers.

The Dream’s next trip, which was supposed to start Sunday, was also canceled. All of the passengers on that voyage will receive a refund for the cruise and airfare.

Late Thursday, the company announced another ship - the Legend - was also having mechanical problems and would skip its stop at the Cayman Islands, heading straight to its final port in Tampa, Fla., instead.

For the quarter that ended Feb. 28, adjusted earnings were 8 cents per share. Analysts had expected 3 cents per share. Revenue rose slightly to $3.59 billion. Analysts expected $3.64 billion.

Carnival’s stock fell $0.78, or 2.2 percent, to $34.95 Friday.

6 sanctioned tankers head for Emirates

Six out of the eight supertankers identified Thursday by the U.S. as helping Iran to evade sanctions are sailing toward the United Arab Emirates, according to ship-tracking data compiled by Bloomberg.

The U.S. Treasury Department said the vessels are disguising the Persian Gulf country’s cargoes for sale on the global market.

For example, one of the tankers completed a ship-to ship transfer in December near Khor Fakkan in the United Arab Emirates, the U.S. said.

The Treasury Department also froze the U.S. assets of Dimitris Cambis, saying the Greek businessman was involved. Cambis denied the accusations in a phone interview from Athens.

“These are very bad rumors created by our competitors because we are trying to take market share and they don’t like it,” Cambis said.

Vessels must broadcast their identities and locations using on board transponders to comply with International Maritime Organization rules. Signals from 54,000 ships are updated every three minutes and recorded by IHS Fairplay, a Redhill, England-based maritime-research company.

  • Bloomberg News

Autoworkers in Europe OK concessions

General Motors Co. and Ford Motor Co. have won employees’ approval in Europe for labor-cost reduction plans.

Manufacturing workers at Ford’s plant in Genk, Belgium, and its suppliers will end walkouts after agreeing to severance packages of as much as 2 ½ years of pay when the factory closes in 2014, the company said Friday in a statement.

A pay freeze at GM’s Opel brand in Germany received the backing of employees at three of the unit’s five plants, the IG Metall union said separately.

Industry wide European auto sales are set to fall a sixth consecutive year in 2013 after reaching a 17-year low in 2012 as a sovereign-debt crisis grips the region.

The 4,300 positions that Ford is cutting at Genk are part of a combined 30,000-job reduction outlined since mid-2012 by auto manufacturers such as PSA Peugeot Citroen, Renault SA and Opel.

“We are pleased to have reached a social plan agreement that was accepted by the unions and approved by the hourly employees at Genk,” Philippe Verbeeck, operations manager for Ford at the plant, said in the statement.

“We fully recognize that this has been a difficult time for everyone at the Ford Genk plant, our suppliers and the local community.”

Business, Pages 28 on 03/16/2013

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