Federal investigators have concluded that pilot error led to an American Airlines flight attendant being sucked out of a plane during an emergency landing more than five years ago, killing him.
American Flight 1291 took off from Miami for Port-au-Prince, Haiti, with 121 passengers on Nov. 20, 2000. During the emergency descent back to Miami, there were pressurization problems, and the captain ordered the evacuation, according to the National Transportation Safety Board.
When the plane was on the ground, flight attendant Jose Chiu, 34, of New York, struggled to unfasten the front cabin door, and it exploded open. He fell two stories to the tarmac.
NTSB investigators concluded that pilots had not used a manual control to depressurize the plane. As a result, excessive pressure built up in the cabin causing the door to suddenly open.
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide (HOT) said Thursday that it has sold the Sheraton Suites Key West to Ocean Properties for $35.85 million.
Ocean Properties, based in Delray Beach, owns the former Howard Johnson hotel in Fort Lauderdale and plans a Marriott in Hollywood.
The Key West hotel will become a Sheraton franchise and will be managed by an affiliate of Ocean Properties, Starwood said. The 180-suite hotel is Key West's only all-suite hotel and will be renovated by Ocean Properties.
Starwood's other properties in South Florida include the Westin Diplomat in Hollywood, Yankee Clipper and Trader in Fort Lauderdale, and the new W in South Beach.
Univisión Communications (UVN), the largest U.S. Spanish-language television and radio broadcaster, said fourth-quarter profit fell 59 percent because of programming expenses and costs to eliminate 270 jobs.
Net income declined to $27.4 million, or 8 cents a share, from $67.2 million, or 19 cents, a year earlier, the company said Thursday. Sales rose 11 percent to $513.5 million.
Univisión said it would pay its programming partner Televisa $6 million in back royalties that the Mexican company claims in a lawsuit that it is owed. Chief Financial Officer Andrew Hobson said Univisión was making the payment under protest and to void Televisa's allegation that its claims of contract violations constitute a material breach of its programming pact.
Hobson said the claims are unfounded and the company will recover the $6 million.
Univisión, which put itself up for sale on Feb. 8, cut jobs and 100 unfilled positions at a cost of $30.3 million to boost results.
Company officials said they would not discuss its sale process until the board of directors approves a deal.
Shares of Chico's FAS (CHS), which sells women's apparel, fell 13 percent after the company said investments in some brands could hurt earnings for the year.
Costs associated with investments in Chico's Soma and other brands would mean earnings growth of about 25 percent, CEO Scott Edmonds said.
A stock-option expense is expected to chip away 8 cents to 9 cents a share from earnings. That suggests earnings for the year may be $1.24 to $1.25, said Adrienne Tennant, an analyst with Wedbush Morgan Securities in Los Angeles.
Chico's shares fell $6.41, or 13 percent, to $41.35 in New York Stock Exchange composite trading.
Middleton Pest Control, a subsidiary of Fort Lauderdale-based Sunair Services Corp. (SNR), said Thursday that it has acquired the assets of Pestec Pest Control.
Based in Sarasota, Pestec offers pest control and lawn care services to residential and commercial customers. The business, owned by Robert and Susan Kara, has five additional employees and generated $720,000 in revenue in 2005.
Orlando-based Middleton has 436 employees, and serves more than 93,000 accounts in 27 Florida counties.
Sunair operates through three business segments: Lawn and Pest Control Services; High Frequency Radio and Telephone Communications.
Costco Wholesale Corp. (COST), the nation's largest wholesale-club operator, said Thursday that its fiscal second-quarter profit slipped 3 percent, but the results still beat Wall Street expectations, nudging its shares to its highest level in five years.
For the three months ended Feb. 12, Costco said net income declined to $296.2 million, or 62 cents per share, from $305.5 million, or 62 cents per share, a year ago. Last year's results included a one-time income tax gain of $52.1 million.
Total revenue, including sales and membership fees, rose 11 percent to $14.05 billion from $12.66 billion in the same period last year. Same-store sales, or sales at stores open at least one year, rose 7 percent company-wide during the 12-week period.
Fidelity Investments, the world's largest mutual-fund company, said earnings rose 20 percent in 2005 on rising stock prices and gains in its brokerage unit.
Net income climbed to $1.33 billion from $1.11 billion in 2004, said FMR Corp., Boston-based Fidelity's parent company, in its annual report Thursday. Revenue increased 10 percent to $11.1 billion from $10.1 billion.
Closely held Fidelity, controlled by the family of Chairman Edward Johnson III, changed managers of its leading funds, including Magellan, in an effort to raise returns.
Kraft Foods (KFT), the nation's largest food company, said Thursday its board of directors has authorized a plan to buy back as much as $2 billion of its stock.
The plan will go into place after the current $1.5 billion share-repurchase plan is completed this quarter. Purchases under the new authorization are expected to run through 2008, the company said.
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