Advertisement - Click to support our sponsors.

Business Briefs

Reported by Star-Bulletin staff & wire

Tuesday, March 6, 2001

Cheap Tickets' online business up

Discount travel seller Cheap Tickets Inc. today announced subscribers to www.cheaptickets.com number 10 million, a company record.

The company's Internet bookings grew 78 percent in 2000 over the previous year, reflecting $255.4 million in gross bookings. Gross bookings through Cheap Tickets' Web site are now growing faster than through any of the company's other distribution channels.

Factory orders hit 14-month low

Orders to U.S. factories fell 3.8 percent in January to their lowest level in 14 months, fresh evidence that manufacturers continue to struggle during the economic slowdown.

The Commerce Department reported today that the decline in factory orders, which followed a 0.6 percent increase in December, was led by a sharp drop in demand for airplanes and other transportation equipment. January's numbers were slightly weaker than the 3.5 percent drop many analysts were expecting.

Stocks rose on Wall Street, however, lifted in part by other economic news showing that growth in Americans' productivity, while slower, was solid in the fourth quarter despite the economic slowdown.

In other news . . .

Xerox Corp. sold half its 50 percent stake in Fuji Xerox Co. to Fuji Photo Film Inc. for &YEN160 billion ($1.3 billion), part of a plan to return to profitability by selling assets and cutting costs. Fuji Xerox sells copiers and printers in Japan and other Asian nations.