Citigroup plans to spin off Travelers insurance unit

NEW YORK >> Citigroup Inc. plans to sell as much as 20 percent of Travelers Property Casualty Corp. as Chairman Sanford Weill works to make the biggest U.S. financial services firm's profit more stable.

The sale may reap Citigroup between $4 billion and $5 billion, analysts said, with property and casualty insurance company shares trading at the highest level in almost two years. It's Weill's first sale of a unit after a decade of acquisitions and the 1998 merger with Citicorp that created the company. It also comes after Travelers Property and Casualty reported $448 million in losses from the attacks on the World Trade Center.

Weill told analysts on a conference call he expects Citigroup to post "higher returns on equity and higher growth rates than what we've seen over the last three years" because of the sale.

AT&T's board meets to review broadband bids

NEW YORK >> AT&T's board met today to evaluate multibillion-dollar bids for its broadband unit, the largest U.S. cable television system operator.

Company officials have said they want to decide by the end of the year whether to sell the operation or spin it off as a separate entity, and AT&T spokeswoman Eileen Connolly reiterated that position today.

The company's board met earlier this month to discuss bids for its broadband operations but decided to have further discussions with bidders before making a decision.

The companies believed to have submitted bids for Denver-based AT&T Broadband are AOL Time Warner Inc., Comcast Corp. and Cox Communications Inc. Microsoft was also considering increasing its stake in AT&T Broadband, or participating in a bid by Comcast or Cox in return for a stake.

AT&T could still decide against selling AT&T Broadband and go forward with an earlier plan to spin off the division as a separate company. The unit has about 14.4 million cable subscribers, including more than 3 million who use its digital video services, according to the National Cable Television Association.

Motorola says it will lay off another 9,400

CHICAGO >> Motorola Inc. announced another whopping round of layoffs yesterday -- 9,400 jobs, or more than 8 percent of its dwindling work force -- as it staggers toward the end of a fourth straight quarter in the red.

The slumping tech giant said the cuts are necessary to return it to profitability and insisted it is on track to do so in 2002, thanks to improvements in its recovering cell-phone business. Motorola has now shrunk its work force by 32 percent since it stood at 150,000 worldwide in August 2000.

Home builders stay strong despite economy

WASHINGTON >> Home builders last month broke ground on the largest number of projects since July. Low mortgage rates and mild weather helped the housing market remain a bright spot in the gloomy economy.

The Commerce Department reported yesterday that housing construction rose to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.65 million housing units in November, an 8.2 percent increase over the prior month. The 8.2 percent gain marked the biggest one-month gain since January and pushed housing starts to the highest level since July, when they grew to 1.66 million units.

Ford will pay $10.5 million to settle suits

DETROIT >> Ford Motor Co. agreed yesterday to pay $10.5 million to settle two class-action lawsuits accusing the automaker of discriminating against older, white men in the name of diversity.

Roughly 620 current and former Ford employees could receive some of the money, plaintiffs' attorneys said. Some will get up to $100,000, minus attorney fees, depending on how long they were employed and other factors.