Consumer confidence slips from peak
WASHINGTON -- U.S. consumer confidence slipped in April but remains at high levels.
The Conference Board, a business research group, said Tuesday that its consumer confidence index registered 120.3 this month, down from 124.9 in March, which was the highest reading in 16 years.
Americans' assessment of current conditions and their expectations for the future both dipped this month. Their outlook for the jobs market also dimmed.
Still, consumers' spirits have risen sharply since the Nov. 8 election of President Donald Trump.
"Despite April's decline, consumers remain confident that the economy will continue to expand in the months ahead," said Lynn Franco, the Conference Board's director of economic indicators.
Economists closely monitor the mood of consumers because their spending accounts for about 70 percent of U.S. economic activity.
-- The Associated Press
Fruit-seller Dole plans to offer stock
THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. -- Dole Food Co. filed for an initial public offering, about four years after the fruit and vegetable producer was taken private by its 94-year-old owner David Murdock.
The company filed with an initial offering amount of $100 million, which is a placeholder number used to calculate fees and will change. Morgan Stanley, Bank of America Corp. and Deutsche Bank are leading the offering, according to the filing Tuesday with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
Dole, founded in 1851, had a net loss of $23 million in fiscal 2016, on revenue of about $4.5 billion. It is the No. 1 producer of bananas in North America by market share, and the No. 2 producer of pineapples in that market, according to the prospectus. The company plans to use the proceeds from the public offering to pay down debt and for general corporate purposes.
Murdock, who is now Dole's chairman, took the company private in 2013 in a deal valuing the Westlake Village, Calif.-based company at about $1.6 billion.
-- Bloomberg News
Trump Tower vacancies follow protests
CHICAGO -- An unusually large number of luxury condominiums are for sale or available for rent at Trump Tower in Chicago.
Real estate professionals tell the Chicago Tribune that almost 11 percent of the 98-story building's 486 residential units are for sale.
Chicago demonstrators have focused on the building since Donald Trump was elected president.
Carla Walker of KoenigRubloff, a Chicago real estate broker, says owners who paid upward of $1.5 million for their condos don't want to be disturbed by protesters.
Appraisal Research Counselors said the number of Trump Tower condos for sale is almost three times higher than at similar buildings downtown. The 100-story John Hancock building has 26 out of 703 condos for sale.
Tech entrepreneur Ajay Goel, who has written publicly about his Trump Tower condo, says he negotiated a 7.5 percent decrease in his rent when his lease came up. He added that 36 units are currently available for rent.
-- The Associated Press
Navy ship-repair firms brace for layoffs
NORFOLK, Va. -- The ship-repair industry in Virginia's Hampton Roads region is preparing to lay off more than 1,000 employees as Congress works to approve a new national budget.
The Virginian Pilot reported at least 1,000 layoffs are expected for the industry, and some have already begun. Virginia Ship Repair Association president Bill Crow said it's mainly because of the federal government's stopgap spending measure that ends Friday, and the failure to approve a new national budget with adequate funding for maintenance of Navy ships.
Crow says without supplemental funding, Hampton Roads' ship-repair industry could stand to lose roughly $180 million. He also says shipyard executives knew that even without Congress' funding issues, the work the Navy planned to offer Hampton Roads' facilities would drop below their total capacity.
-- The Associated Press
Saudis OK Citigroup investment bank
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia -- After a 13-year absence, Citigroup is back in Saudi Arabia.
The bank received a license from the kingdom's regulator "to provide a full range of investment banking, debt and equity capital markets, markets and securities research capabilities to local and international institutional clients," it said in a statement Tuesday.
The announcement seals Citigroup's return to the kingdom after it lost its license when it sold its stake in Samba Financial Group in 2004. Saudi Arabia is becoming more attractive to foreign lenders as it overhauls its economy and plans to list Saudi Arabian Oil Co., or Aramco, in what could be the largest-ever initial public offering. The New York-based bank tried unsuccessfully to return to the country in 2006 and 2010.
"The Aramco deal marks the opening up of Saudi Arabia, and Citigroup wants to be there to take advantage of that," said Christopher Wheeler, a London-based banking analyst at Atlantic Equities LLP. Citigroup "has a history in the Middle East, hence it's a no-brainer. No quick return, but a ticket to the party."
Citigroup has pushed to secure a license in recent months. The bank set up a company-wide task force to target business opportunities in Saudi Arabia, and started sounding out potential staff members in expectation that it would get a license, according to people aware of the matter. The lender appointed Carmen Haddad as chief executive officer in the kingdom to rebuild its business there, people said earlier this month. Chief Executive Officer Mike Corbat discussed the bank's plans with Prince Alwaleed bin Talal in Riyadh in March.
Saudi Arabia is "a strategically important market for Citigroup," Jim Cowles, Citigroup's CEO for Europe, the Middle East and Africa, said in the statement.
-- Bloomberg News
Business on 04/26/2017