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Consumer confidence takes fall in March

By wire services
Published March 11, 2006

Consumer confidence dropped in early March as people fretted about the economy's performance and their own financial fate in the months ahead.

The RBC CASH Index, based on results from the international polling firm Ipsos, showed confidence at 86.2 in early March. That was down considerably from February's reading of 96.1 - a 16-month high. But it was in the ballpark with consumers' feelings about conditions in March last year, when the index stood at 84.2. Even with the drop, analysts believe consumers are in a generally good frame of mind about the economy.

Telecom-equipment maker Nortel Networks Corp. posted a preliminary fourth-quarter loss of $2.21-billion Friday, most of it related to the settlement of class-action lawsuits, and warned it could default on $1.3-billion in debt. The Brampton, Ontario, company announced it would delay filing its 2005 annual report until the end of April. Nortel also said it and its principal operating unit will restate financial results for 2003, 2004 and the first nine months of 2005, and will have adjustments to periods prior to 2003, mainly due to revenue incorrectly recognized in prior periods that should have been deferred to future periods. The company, which is struggling to recover from an accounting scandal, said it recorded a $2.21-billion loss in the fourth quarter of 2005 and revenue of $2.95-billion, a 14 percent gain from the $2.59-billion in revenue a year earlier.

Delta Air Lines Inc.'s pilots, mired in contract negotiations with the bankrupt carrier, increased the pay and benefits concessions they are willing to accept to $140-million annually, their union said. Delta's Air Line Pilots Association, which represents 6,000 pilots, raised the offer from $120-million, said union spokesman John Culp, who declined to provide more details. The change came in contract talks last week, said Delta spokesman Bruce Hicks. "We still are extremely far apart," Hicks said Friday. The pilots at the Atlanta carrier have said they will strike if a request by the airline to scrap the existing contract and impose new terms is approved by an arbitration panel. The sides present their cases next week to the arbitrators, who will decide by April 15 whether to grant the company's request if talks fail.

Five Utah residents have sued Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. after three of them were left behind on a Caribbean cruise. Although boarding the ship following an island excursion is the passengers' responsibility, the plaintiffs allege that Royal Caribbean hampered the their efforts to rejoin the cruise. The lawsuit, filed last month in Utah's 3rd District Court, charges Royal Caribbean with breach of contract, infliction of emotional distress, negligence and fraud.

ANAHEIM, Calif. - Pixar stole the show Friday at the Walt Disney Co. shareholders meeting.

Robert Iger got a warm welcome at his first meeting as Disney CEO when he outlined initiatives planned at theme parks and in the TV and film units.

But it was the $7.4-billion deal to buy longtime partner Pixar Animation Studios Inc. that shareholders seemed to care about the most.

The deal not only shores up Disney's flagging animation efforts but also symbolizes Iger's ability to repair relationships damaged under Disney's longtime CEO Michael Eisner.

The several thousand shareholders who gathered at the Arrowhead Pond, just blocks from the Disneyland theme park, cheered when Pixar's chief creative officer John Lasseter took the stage.

Shareholders on Friday easily re-elected Disney's board, led by George Mitchell, who has said he will retire at the end of his one-year term. Mitchell previously said he would not seek re-election but agreed to stay while the board searches for a new chairman.

The European Union and the United States signed a new wine deal Friday that allows the U.S. to export wines made using practices many European vintners shun.

Talks on a "more ambitious" agreement are slated to start within 90 days, as both sides build on last September's breakthrough that recognizes each region's winemaking practices after 20 years of haggling.

Americans will now be able to sell woodchip-aged wines - using metal vats instead of using expensive oak barrels - throughout Europe.

The United States and Europe are each other's most important markets for wine exports. Annual EU wine exports to the U.S. are worth more than $2.37-billion, around 40 percent of EU wine exports. U.S. wine exports to Europe are far lower - at $487-million in 2004 - but are increasing steadily.

CRACKER BARREL TO PAY $2M TO SETTLE SUIT: CBRL Group Inc., operator of Cracker Barrel restaurants in 41 states, will pay $2-million to settle a race and sex discrimination lawsuit brought by current and former employees, the U.S. said. U.S. District Judge Charles R. Norgle in Chicago today entered a consent decree resolving the suit, which alleged sexual and racial harassment and retaliation at three Cracker Barrel restaurants in Bloomington, Mattoon and Matteson, Ill., the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission said in a a statement. The company admitted no wrongdoing.

US AIRWAYS CHIEF REJECTS BONUS: US Airways Group Inc. CEO W. Douglas Parker said he rejected a $770,000 bonus earned last year and won't consent to such a reward until his newly merged airline becomes profitable. Parker, 44, said in an interview Friday it would have been wrong to accept the payout before US Airways workers receive payments under a profit-sharing plan.

[Last modified March 11, 2006, 01:42:13]