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Daiei's sales drop in February
KOBE, Japan >> Daiei Inc., Japan's most indebted retailer, said February sales at stores open at least a year fell 0.8 percent from a year ago, declining for a sixth straight month.Same-store sales at the nation's third largest retailer were dragged down by a 3.1 percent drop in home-appliance sales and a 1.9 percent fall in clothing sales, company spokesman Minoru Sano told Bloomberg News. Food sales rose 0.7 percent, Sano said.
In October, Daiei reported a 20 percent fall in group operating profit, or sales minus the cost of goods sold, to ¥20.6 billion for the first half ended Aug. 31, 2002, from ¥25.5 billion in the year ago-period. The company cited falling prices and weak consumer spending for the decline.
Company docks pay to regain profit-sharing
MILWAUKEE >> The National Labor Relations Board and Wisconsin's Department of Workforce Development are investigating Ladish Co. for docking workers' pay to correct a corporate accounting error.The company started docking the pay of nearly 300 workers by 10 percent last month.
The company argues that because it restated profits from 2000 and 2001 for its Cudahy Forging division, wiping out more than $6.3 million in profits, it had overpaid some workers by an average $1,000 in profit-sharing payments.
Accounting experts said they had never heard of a company trying to recoup profit-sharing payments after a restatement.
Spiegel files for Ch. 11 bankruptcy
CHICAGO >> Spiegel Inc., parent of Eddie Bauer and Newport News fashions and the Spiegel Catalog, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection today amid a worsening cash crisis.Spiegel said it had arranged for $400 million in bankruptcy financing and expected to keep all its stores and catalog operations operating throughout the bankruptcy process.
The company, whose roots can be traced back 138 years, has warned for the past month that it would have to file for bankruptcy unless new financing emerged.
It pulled the plug on its private-label Visa and MasterCard credit cards this month, saying its bank subsidiary no longer had cash to reimburse its merchants for card purchases. Analysts said its sales have been in a long decline.
Bank of America, Fleet Retail Finance Inc. and the CIT Group/Business Credit Inc. provided the debtor-in-possession financing facility, which was arranged by Banc of America Securities LLC, the company said. Spiegel said it expects to be able to gain access to the initial $150 million of financing upon approval by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court.
Fed likely to leave rates alone
NEW YORK >> The Federal Reserve may well open the door at tomorrow's policy meeting to a future rate cut, but it is unlikely to change interest rates until the economic impact of any war with Iraq is clearer.After a barrage of dismal economic news in the last month, most Wall Street bond dealers that trade with the Fed expect the central bank will concede that risks to the economy are again tilted toward weakness. But with war jitters clouding the true state of the economy, most analysts expect the central bank to hold off on deciding whether more easing is needed. The Fed's case for waiting grew stronger today, as the start of U.S. hostilities in Iraq appeared imminent.
Seventeen of the 22 top bond dealers expect the Fed will leave the federal funds rate steady at 1.25 percent this month, while five expect a cut tomorrow. Another four say the Fed will ease at its next meeting in May and in the most aggressive call, one dealer expects a cut in between the two scheduled gatherings.
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