Business news in brief

Amazon cuts Silkworm shipping time

Amazon.com Inc. began accepting orders and reducing shipping times for a new book by author J.K. Rowling, even as a dispute continues with her publisher, Hachette Book Group, over e-book prices.

The Silkworm, written under Rowling's pseudonym Robert Galbraith, is available for shipping, though it might require an extra one to two days to process, according to Amazon's site. An e-book edition can be immediately downloaded. Amazon has been putting Hachette books on sale when they become available in stores, as The Silkworm did Thursday, said Sophie Cottrell, a spokesman for the publisher.

Hachette hasn't reached a deal with Amazon, and about 5,000 of the publisher's titles continue to show out-of-stock messages, Cottrell said. Amazon is seeking a bigger cut of the retail price of a title so it can continue discounting e-books and increase margins, people with knowledge of the matter said this month.

The Amazon listing for James Patterson's latest Alex Cross book says it usually ships within two to five weeks, and Stephen Colbert's America Again ships in three to five weeks.

Sarah Gelman, a spokesman at Amazon, didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.

-- Bloomberg News

JPMorgan plans to sell home-loan bonds

JPMorgan Chase & Co. is planning a $303.7 million sale of U.S. home-loan bonds without government backing, adding to evidence that the market for the securities is beginning to pick up steam.

The deal will be tied to $303.7 million of prime 15-year mortgages, according to a person with knowledge of the transaction who asked not to be identified without authorization to speak publicly. Although most of the loans had original balances larger than the current threshold for jumbo mortgages, the market's focus since its revival, 14.5 percent of the debt is smaller than $400,000, the person said.

After reviving from the paralysis caused by the 2008 financial crisis, issuance of securities not backed by Fannie Mae, the Federal National Mortgage Association, and Freddie Mac, the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp., had slowed after the middle of last year as banks sought jumbo loans to hold as investments and bond buyers paid less for the debt.

Although total issuance of nonagency securities tied to new loans jumped to $13.4 billion last year from $3.5 billion in 2012, sales collapsed after September, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Issuance has totaled about $1.8 billion this year. Sales peaked at $1.2 trillion in 2005 and 2006.

Jumbo mortgages are those larger than allowed in government-supported programs. Limits now range from $417,000 to $625,500 for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac loans, with the lowest costs for borrowers using 20 percent down payments.

-- Bloomberg News

Nigeria worth the risk, Heineken says

Heineken NV, the world's third-biggest brewer, said the potential of the Nigerian market outweighs the security risk caused by deadly bombings in Africa's biggest economy.

"We know what it means to have a crisis and insecurity," Siep Hiemstra, president of the Amsterdam-based company's Middle East and Africa unit, said in an interview with Bloomberg TV Africa, citing the company's experience during conflicts in Rwanda and South Africa. "We also believe that if you are totally focusing on only the challenges and the things that are not going well, you totally lose focus on the promises, and the promises are huge."

Heineken competes with London-based Diageo PLC and SABMiller PLC in Nigeria, where attacks by the Islamist group Boko Haram have left thousands of people dead in five years. Hiemstra said no beer company could consider itself truly international without being in Africa, as brewers are looking to tap booming economic growth in emerging markets. Nigeria is the continent's most populous country with about 170 million people.

-- Bloomberg News

Japan pushes to promote female leaders

TOKYO -- Japanese women in leadership positions need to do more to become role models for those trying to rise through the ranks if Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's campaign against gender inequality is to succeed, the country's top female lawmaker said.

"The most important thing is to be visible," Seiko Noda, chairman of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party's General Council, said earlier this month. "Show it's not unusual to see women in the job. Appear on television. By having people see the LDP General Council chairperson is a woman, it will help change thinking."

Abe is aiming to make it easier for women to rise to the top, pledging a new law to provide incentives for companies and local and national governments to promote women to positions of leadership, according to a new growth plan released Tuesday. The implementation of the plan is not without challenges, including a lack of child care facilities and tax rules that discourage women from full-time employment.

Abe's goal is to increase the number of women in managerial positions to 30 percent by 2020 to boost an economy faced with a shrinking population. Abe's growth plan pledges to discuss ways to increase the number of female leaders during this fiscal year.

-- Bloomberg News

1st-quarter report boosts CarMax stock

CarMax Inc., the biggest U.S. auto dealer by market valuation, soared in early trading after its fiscal first-quarter earnings and revenue topped analyst estimates because of increased customer traffic that boosted vehicle sales.

Shares of CarMax jumped $7.47, or 16.5 percent, to close Friday at $52.75. CarMax had declined 3.7 percent this year through Thursday.

Net income for the three months that ended May 31 rose 16 percent to $169.7 million, or 76 cents a share, the Richmond, Va.-based company said in a statement. Analysts had estimated 67 cents, on average. Revenue advanced 13 percent to $3.75 billion, compared with a $3.59 billion projection from analysts.

Demand for autos has risen with an improving job market, more housing starts and low interest rates. That drove the annualized pace for new light-vehicles sales, adjusted for seasonal trends, to 16.8 million last month, the fastest rate since February 2007, according to Autodata Corp.

-- Bloomberg News

Business on 06/21/2014

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