MAINLAND

Cendant's net profit grows 19 percent

NEW YORK >> Travel and real estate conglomerate Cendant Corp. said yesterday that net income grew by 19 percent in the third quarter on strength in its car rental and residential real estate businesses.

The New York-based company, which bought Hawaii-based Cheap tickets last year, also said it would "curtail acquisition activity" and use its cash flow to reduce debt and buy back $200 million in stock.

The company's third-quarter results were in line with Wall Street's expectations, which were recently lowered after the company reduced its forecast by 33 percent because of the impact of low interest rates on its mortgage business.

Cendant reported net income of $250 million, 24 cents per share, during the July-September period, compared with $210 million, or 23 cents per share, a year earlier.

McDonald's plans to slow expansion

Oak Brook, Ill. >> McDonald's Corp., the world's largest restaurant company, will open fewer outlets and increase spending on renovations and advertising after earnings declined for the seventh time in eight quarters.

The hamburger chain will open 450 less restaurants in 2003, or almost half this year's amount, as part of Chief Executive Jack Greenberg's plan to shift $400 million in spending to remodeling. The slowdown follows an 11 percent drop in third-quarter net income, the company said in a statement.

Third-quarter profit fell to $486.7 million, or 38 cents a share, from $545.5 million, or 42 cents, a year earlier.

Small Web stations to pay lower royalties

WASHINGTON >> Smaller Internet broadcasters won a stay of execution over the weekend as musicians and record labels agreed to accept lower royalty payments.

Webcasters were due yesterday to begin payments to the artists and record labels whose songs they use, but mom-and-pop operators will now only have to pay a maximum of $2,500 rather than a per-song rate that could add up to tens of thousands of dollars more.

Many small operators had protested that the per-song rate, set by the Library of Congress in June, could drive them out of business.

Workers to get 401(k) lockout warnings

WASHINGTON >> Starting next year, workers participating in employer-sponsored 401(k) plans must receive 30 days notice before they are blocked from accessing their retirement savings accounts while administrative changes are being made.

That's according to a Labor Department regulation issued yesterday, which takes effect Jan. 26. A corporate accountability law, inspired by last year's Enron scandal and passed by Congress this summer, required the department to issue the rule.

Companies plan for worst in port dispute

SAN FRANCISCO >> With tensions rising rather than easing between West Coast port employers and union longshoremen, many companies see more trouble on the docks when a court-mandated 80-day "cooling off" period expires at year-end.

As a result, some companies are scrambling now to reroute first-quarter shipments and safeguard supply chains tangled by the slow pace of work in clearing the 200 container ships still backed up along the West Coast.

Some companies already plan to ship goods to ports in the eastern United States. For others, Mexican ports may become a mainstay if both sides to the dispute remain deadlocked in contract talks.

Dole Food Co. Inc. and Chiquita Brands International Inc. plan to ship bananas from Latin America to Ensenada, Mexico, and truck the fruit to California if necessary.