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BUSINESS BRIEFS

By Staff Reports
Published: February 6, 2009

VIRGINIA

Altria raising price of Marlboro, other brands

NEWPORT NEWS -- Henrico County-based Altria Group Inc. said it will increase the price of Marlboro, the top-selling U.S. cigarette, and 17 other brands as a possible increase in tobacco taxes threatens profit margins.

Altria's Philip Morris USA will charge distributors an additional 9 cents a pack for Marlboro, Parliament, Virginia Slims and six other varieties, Altria spokesman Greg Mathe said. A list-price increase of 18 cents covers Benson & Hedges, Chesterfield and seven other brands, he said. The changes take effect Monday.

The boost will be the second since December by Philip Morris USA, the largest U.S. tobacco company. The company may raise prices again before a possible increase in U.S. tobacco excise taxes in April, according to Judy Hong, an analyst at Goldman Sachs Group Inc. in New York.

Higher taxes may make it harder for cigarette makers to boost prices, Hong said in a note yesterday. Smokers may switch to less-expensive varieties if prices rise with taxes.

Number of cattle, calves down by 7% in Virginia

The number of cattle and calves in Virginia has fallen 7 percent over the past year.

Figures released yesterday by the state Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services show 1.46 million head of cattle and calves on Jan. 1. That compares with 1.57 million head a year ago.

The department says Virginia's inventory ranks 21st in the nation and makes up 1.5 percent of the total U.S. inventory. There was a 9 percent drop in the number of Virginia beef cows and an 18 percent drop in beef replacement heifers.

Accelerator contract awarded to Beach firm

A Virginia Beach construction company has been awarded a $14.1 million contract at the U.S. Department of Energy's Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility.

The $14.1 million contract announced Wednesday to S.B. Ballard Construction Co. includes construction of 20,000 square feet of facilities, new roads and supporting utilities.

Construction is expected to start this spring with completion scheduled in the summer of 2011.

The contract is part of a $310 million upgrade project at Jefferson Lab. The upgrade will serve physicists studying the basic building blocks of the universe. Jefferson Lab is one of 17 Department of Energy national laboratories.

THE NATION

U.S. is said to overpay for assets in bailout

WASHINGTON -- The federal government overpaid for stocks and other assets in attempting to help financial institutions last year, a government watchdog said yesterday, taking further issue with the beleaguered $700 billion rescue program.

Elizabeth Warren, chairwoman of the Congressional Oversight Panel for the bailout funds, told the Senate Banking Committee that Treasury in 2008 paid $254 billion and received assets worth about $176 billion.

The figures were reached by extrapolating the results of a study of 10 government transactions, comparing the price paid by Treasury and the value of the asset at the time of purchase. Details of the report will be released today.

In a bright spot for the rescue program, however, banks that received capital infusions from Treasury have already paid $271 million in dividends to the federal government. A Treasury official said yesterday that banks are expected to pay more than $1.5 billion in dividends by the end of this month.

Elsewhere

American Airlines says customers who call for flight information will get it faster because of speech-recognition technology it's adding to its service for frequent travelers. American said yesterday that the "Remember Me" system will recognize phone numbers and greet customers by name if they've signed up under American's frequent-flier program, AAdvantage. They can list up to three phone numbers from which they'll call the airline.

Boeing Co.'s orders for freight and passenger jets fell sharply in January, hurt by declining air travel amid the global economic slump. The Chicago-based airplane maker received orders for just 18 jetliners last month, a 72 percent drop from the 65 planes ordered a year earlier. Jet deliveries rose by one to 35 planes in January.

Stock in American International Group Inc., once the world's largest insurer, fell below $1 yesterday, crossing the threshold at which shares may be delisted by the New York Stock Exchange if they fail to recover. The insurer, bailed out by the U.S. last year in a rescue now valued at about $150 billion, dipped to 99 cents before closing at $1, down 3 cents for the day. AIG traded at more than $54 a year ago.

The FBI arrested two traders yesterday on charges they made millions of dollars in illicit profits using inside tips from an investment bank employee about the 2006 sale of the Albertson's Inc. grocery store chain.

THE WORLD

Spanish windmills due power boost from storm

Spanish windmills may generate a record amount of electricity next week, slashing local power prices to three-year lows, calculations from Bloomberg weather data show.

An Atlantic Ocean storm is forecast to blow winds averaging 17.4 mph across the peninsula. Lighter winds, at 13.6 mph, were enough to set the previous record output three weeks earlier. The extra supply then cut power prices 11 percent.

Spain and Germany, the world's biggest wind-energy markets after the U.S., have changed the dynamics for wholesale power trading by forcing sellers to read weather reports. Because their fuel is free, wind turbines undercut traditional generators that burn coal, natural gas and oil. -- From Staff and Wire Reports