BUSINESS BRIEFS
Airlines waiving rescheduling fees due to wildfires
Associated Press
Most airlines serving Southern California are waiving fees for passengers wanting to reschedule flights in or out of the area's airports because of the wildfires this week.
Downtown San Diego and major tourist attractions haven't been affected. But the fires, stretching from San Diego County to north of Malibu, have caused extensive property damage and forced many residents to evacuate.
Most major carriers charge $100 to change flight dates, but they are making exceptions because of the fires, just as they often do during hurricanes and massive snowstorms that disrupt travel.
INSURED LOSSES FROM FIRES: $500M
Insured losses from the wildfires in California are expected to exceed $500 million — ranking among the five most damaging wildfires since 1970, according to the Insurance Information Institute.
The institute's estimate could change depending on the success of firefighting efforts. The estimate includes losses for destroyed homes and businesses and living expenses paid out under homeowners policies for displaced consumers.
The wildfires in Southern California have displaced hundreds of thousands of people and consumed thousands of homes. Despite the losses, it's unlikely that many insurers will raise rates or pare back on homeowners coverage significantly in California, says Robert Hartwig, president of the insurance institute, who says the losses will likely be "well within the range of what's manageable."
QUARTERLY PROFIT AT AMAZON SURGES
SEATTLE — Web retailer Amazon.com Inc. said yesterday that its third-quarter profit more than quadrupled as shoppers around the world bought more books, music, electronics and other goods than they did in the same period a year ago.
After pushing shares over $100 in regular trading before the earnings announcement, investors sold heavily after the bell, pulling the stock back toward $90 as concerns over the company's gross margins apparently overshadowed the otherwise strong quarter.
Earnings for the quarter ended Sept. 30 skyrocketed to $80 million, or 19 cents per share, from $19 million, or 5 cents per share, during the same period last year.
WAL-MART TAKES ITS BELT IN A NOTCH
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. will cut back on spending to build new stores and tighten cost controls as sales growth slows over the next three years, Chief Financial Officer Tom Schoewe told investors and analysts at a conference yesterday.
Schoewe trimmed plans for capital expenditures for the second time this year, to about $15 billion from a June forecast of $15.5 billion. The original projection was $17 billion. Analysts welcomed the move to focus on keeping more of the cash rather than spending furiously on new stores.
Increased free cash flow, or the money left over after a company pays its expenses including capital expenditures, could make Wal-Mart shares more attractive by funding higher dividends, new technologies or acquisitions, analysts said.
AMERICAN AIR PILOTS WANT RAISES
DALLAS — The pilots union at American Airlines said yesterday it was seeking pay raises to make up for inflation since 1992, which the union estimated at more than 33 percent.
The proposal is larger than a 30.5 percent increase request made by previous union leaders in May. A company spokeswoman said the proposal would dramatically increase pilot costs and make American Airlines less competitive with other carriers.
The airline and the Allied Pilots Association have been heading on a collision course over pay for a couple years, but especially since pilots voted out the former union leaders and replaced them with candidates seen as hard-liners, led by new President Lloyd Hill.
