Daily Briefing

AIRLINES

Parts maker files for protection

Superior Air Parts Inc., a manufacturer of the Vantage aircraft engine and supplier of parts for Lycoming and Continental engines, filed for bankruptcy protection from creditors.

The Coppell, Texas-based company is owned by Thielert AG, according to Superior’s Web site. Hamburg-based Thielert’s German aircraft-engine business, based in Hamburg, filed for insolvency in Germany in April.

FAA settles suit with whistleblower

The Federal Aviation Administration has reached a settlement with an air traffic controller who said he was retaliated against for warning that a takeoff and landing procedure in Memphis, Tenn., had led to near midair collisions.

The FAA agreed Dec. 4 to return Peter Nesbitt to air traffic control duties and transfer him to Austin, Texas, at the same salary, and to pay his relocation and legal expenses, said Leslie Williamson, a spokeswoman for the Office of Special Counsel, a federal agency that investigates whistle-blower complaints.

Nesbitt, who has more than 20 years experience as a controller, had asked to return to the control tower at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport, where he worked prior to the Memphis International Airport control tower.

Lufthansa talks stir acquisition rumors

Germany’s leading airline Deutsche Lufthansa AG has been in talks with its troubled Scandinavian counterpart SAS AB, a company executive told Danish media Friday, rekindling speculation about a planned acquisition.

A senior Lufthansa executive, Karsten Bentz, refused to comment on rumors that the German airline is eying SAS for purchase, but the Jyllands-Posten daily cited him as saying that there were frequent talks between the two.

At the end of November, a Lufthansa spokeswoman reaffirmed the company’s interest in taking over SAS, but Friday’s interview marked the first time an executive has acknowledged official talks between the two groups.

AUTOS

Visteon to cut pay by 20 percent

Visteon Corp., the auto-parts supplier spun off from Ford Motor Co., will cut pay by 20 percent for about 2,050 U.S. salaried workers and reduce their workweek to four days because of carmakers’ lower production.

The changes take effect next week, said Jim Fisher, a spokesman for the maker of vehicle interior and cooling systems. The Van Buren, Michigan-based company has about 35,000 employees, including a salaried workforce of 3,100 in North America. Ford accounts for about 35 percent of Visteon’s revenue. The parts company gets about 25 percent of its sales in North America, Fisher said.

BANKING

Madoff prompts bank oversight

The Austrian government appointed a supervisor Friday to oversee Medici Bank, which is reeling from more than $3 billion in losses blamed on Wall Street money manager Bernard Madoff.

Austria’s Financial Markets Authority said it named Gerhard Altenberger to the post. Altenberger, a state financial inspector, will oversee all bank operations to ensure the stricken private lender “carefully adheres to all legal and contractual obligations,” the agency said in a statement.

Medici disclosed in December that it suffered huge losses it blamed on Madoff, who U.S. prosecutors say defrauded investors worldwide of $50 billion.

COMMUNICATIONS

Verizon’s buyout of Alltel closes Jan. 9

The $5.9 billion acquisition of cellular carrier Alltel Corp. by Verizon Wireless will close on Jan. 9, Verizon Communications Inc. said Friday in a regulatory filing.

The deal, which as announced in June, will make Verizon Wireless the country’s largest wireless carrier, with about 78 million subscribers.

To gain approval for the deal, Verizon Wireless pledged to sell assets where its network overlaps with Alltel’s.

In addition to paying $5.9 billion for Alltel’s privately held equity, Verizon Wireless is assuming $22.2 billion in debt.

CURRENCY

Belarusian ruble devalued by 20%

Belarus’ central bank sharply devalued the Belarusian ruble Friday, allowing the currency to plunge 20 percent to help stop the hemorrhaging of its reserves. The move came as an unwelcome shock to ordinary citizens.

The National Bank said the devaluation was aimed at raising the competitiveness of the Belarusian economy, which has been battered by the global financial crisis. It also was a condition of a $2.5 billion loan from the IMF announced Wednesday.

ENERGY

Ukraine, Russia in standoff over gas

Ukraine sought support Friday in European capitals a day after Russia cut off gas supplies and hardened its stance on prices.

Russia’s Foreign Ministry issued a statement saying that it, too, was ready to explain its position in the dispute to Europe, asking for a special session of the European Commission to address the question.

But there were no face-to-face talks between Ukraine and Russia as of late afternoon Friday, a day after Russia’s state-controlled energy giant Gazprom cut off gas to Ukraine, saying it had failed to pay an outstanding $2.1 billion bill.

For the moment, the two countries instead fought a public relations war.

Oil, natural gas exploration drops

The number of rigs actively exploring for oil and natural gas in the United States dropped by 98 this week to 1,623.

Of the rigs running nationwide, 1,267 were exploring for natural gas and 346 for oil, Houston-based Baker Hughes Inc. reported Friday. A total of 10 were listed as miscellaneous. A year ago, the rig count stood at 1,774.

Of the major oil- and gas-producing states, Texas lost 54 rigs, North Dakota lost seven, Wyoming, New Mexico and Colorado lost five each, Arkansas lost three and California lost one. Louisiana picked up four and Alaska added one. Oklahoma was unchanged.

DOE gets research loan applications

The Department of Energy has received the first applications for $25 billion in low-interest federal loans intended to spur development of fuel-efficient vehicles and components.

The Energy Department reported 34 applications were filed for the Advanced Technology Vehicle Manufacturing Incentive Program, part of the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007.

The money is not related to the government bailout of the auto industry.

Ener1 Inc., a maker of lithium-ion batteries for hybrid, plug-in electric and pure electric vehicles, applied for a $480 million loan with an estimated annual interest rate of less than 4 percent. The New York-based company also makes software to customize complete battery systems for commercial vehicles.

FINANCES

Fed gives report on emergency lending

Commercial banks borrowed slightly more, while investment firms drew less over the past week from the Federal Reserve’s emergency lending program.

The Fed report, released Friday, showed commercial banks averaged $86.6 billion in daily borrowing over the week ending Wednesday. That was up from $86.3 billion in average daily borrowing logged over the week that ended Dec. 24.

Investment firms drew $38.5 billion over the past week. That compared with an average of $45.7 billion the previous week. This category includes any loans that were made to the U.S.- and London-based broker-dealer subsidiaries of Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and Merrill Lynch.

E.Trade subsidiaries fined $1 million

Two E.Trade Financial Corp. subsidiaries were fined a total of $1 million for failing to implement anti-money laundering checks for detecting suspicious securities trades, the brokerage industry’s main regulator said.

E.Trade Securities LLC and E.Trade Clearing used inadequate techniques, based on their business models, to monitor transactions from January 2003 until May 2007, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority said today in a statement. The company assigned analysts and other employees to manually check for suspicious trades without giving them sufficient automated tools, the Washington-based regulator said. The divisions of New York-based E.Trade didn’t admit or deny wrongdoing in settling the claims.

MEDIA

Wikipedia reaches $6 million goal

The nonprofit foundation that runs Wikipedia, the popular online encyclopedia of user-contributed articles, said Friday it has met its $6 million fund-raising goal for fiscal 2008.

With about six months left in this year’s campaign, the Wikimedia Foundation said it has raised $6.2 million. A flood of donations came in after the site’s founder, Jimmy Wales, posted an appeal for support in late December.

The foundation said about 50,000 contributors chipped in a total of $2 million in the space of eight days, bringing the total number of donors to more than 125,000.

Sun-Times board delays resignation

The Sun-Times Media Group Inc. said Friday that three board members have postponed plans to resign until the company can recruit new directors.

Gordon A. Paris, Graham W. Savage and Raymond G.H. Seitz had been slated to leave the board no later than Dec. 31. Sun-Times spokeswoman Tammy Chase says the three have agreed to stay “to provide some continuity in leadership.” The Sun-Times says recruitment efforts have been hampered by an investor proposal to replace its board.

Davidson Kempner Capital Management LLC and its affiliated entities owns about 5.9 percent of Sun-Times Media Group. Kempner is seeking to remove all but one member of the company’s board and replace them with Davidson’s four nominees.

Lee Enterprises in debt trouble

Lee Enterprises Inc., publisher of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and other newspapers, said in a regulatory filing that it will have trouble paying its debt over the next two years because of severe reductions in revenue.

The company also disclosed that its outside auditor is questioning Lee’s ability to remain a “going concern” if the company is unable to refinance some loans. Industry analysts said Friday, however, that the auditor’s assessment was largely a technicality, one likely to be mirrored as other newspaper companies file annual reports over the next few months that reflect a disappointing 2008.

MANUFACTURING

Late report costs Lasko $500,000

The government says manufacturer Lasko Products Inc. has agreed to pay a $500,000 fine for being slow to report problems about its defective portable fans.

Between November 2002 and September 2005, Lasko received about 42 reports of fans overheating, smoking, melting or catching fire. There were nine reports of personal injuries and some property damage. The Consumer Product Safety Commission says Lasko did not fully report the incidents to the agency until September 2005.

The company in West Chester, Pa., recalled 5.6 million fans in February 2006. CPSC alleged that Lasko failed to immediately report that the fans could cause hazards, as the law requires. A CPSC statement Friday says Lasko, in agreeing to the settlement, denies knowingly breaking the law.

TAXES

H&R Block to pay $5 million in suit

The California attorney general has settled a lawsuit against H&R Block over a widely used loan program that gives the nation’s largest tax preparer a chunk of customers’ tax refunds.

Attorney General Jerry Brown says the $4.85 million settlement will stop H&R Block Inc. from offering high-cost loans it has marketed as early tax refunds.

Former Attorney General Bill Lockyer sued the company in 2006, adding California to a long list of others that sued over its “refund anticipation loans.”

H&R Block did not acknowledge any wrongdoing.

The company agreed to pay up to $2.45 million in restitution for consumers who purchased a “Refund Anticipation Loan” or a “Refund Anticipation Check” through H&R Block between Jan. 1, 2001 and Dec. 31, 2008.

TOURISM

Greenbrier hires investment firm

The Greenbrier’s owner has hired New York investment banking giant Goldman Sachs & Co. to help determine what to do with the money-losing luxury resort.

Jacksonville, Fla.-based CSX Corp. says Goldman will consider options for making The Greenbrier a viable business entity in a statement released Friday.

Typically, hiring an investment banking firm signals a potential sale, but CSX spokesman Gary Sease would say only that the railroad operator is considering all options for the resort.