Daily Briefing

AIRLINES

Continental makes ‘alternative’ flight

Continental Airlines on Wednesday became the first U.S. commercial carrier to conduct a demonstration flight powered in part by alternative fuels, though large-scale use of such fuel is forecast to be several years away.

The Houston-based company, the nation’s fourth-largest airline, made the flight with a Boeing 737-800 that left from Bush Intercontinental Airport, its large hub. The flight took about 1 hour, 45 minutes and had no passengers.

Continental chairman and chief executive Larry Kellner said the goal was to analyze technical aspects of using biofuels, including effects on the plane’s mechanical systems. In this case, the alternative fuel was derived from algae and jatropha plants and used in only one of the plane’s two engines.

Kellner and others acknowledged it will likely be several years, a decade perhaps, before biofuels make up a significant percentage of the fuel used by Continental and other major carriers. At present, adequate supplies —- and the facilities to make them —- simply aren’t available.

AUTOS

Peugeot to close plant’s night shift

French automaker PSA Peugeot Citroen plans to cut the night shift at its Sochaux plant in Eastern France from the beginning of February to cope with falling sales, a spokesman said Wednesday.

A total of 1,200 night workers on the Peugeot 308 compact saloon line will be affected by the plans, which will be presented to workers Friday, spokesman Laurent Cicolella said.

Of these, 300 workers on fixed-term contracts will be retrained and 900 fixed-term workers will not have their contracts renewed, he said. There will be no layoffs.

Nissan limits recall to cold climates

Nissan Motor Co. is recalling more than 240,000 trucks in 20 cold weather states to fix a problem that could prevent front air bags from deploying in a crash.

The recall affects the Frontier, Pathfinder and Xterra for the 2005-2009 model years.

Where winter time road salt is used, a mix of snow and salt could enter a crash zone sensor area and rust, interrupting the signal and potentially preventing the front air bags from deploying in a crash.

The states are Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, West Virginia and Wisconsin.

BANKING

Barclays to cut 400 tech jobs

British bank Barclays PLC said Wednesday it was cutting more than 400 technology jobs after a review of its operations.

The bank said the job cuts were designed to eliminate obsolete or duplicated roles and affected 158 permanent IT staff and 250 contractors based mostly in London and Cheshire, northwest England. Barclays said it would try to limit the number of compulsory layoffs by releasing contractors, closing vacancies and offering workers the chance to apply for other jobs.

Barclays, Britain’s third-largest bank by market capitalization, employs 150,000 people worldwide, 63,000 of them in Britain.

EARNINGS

Corona, Svedka maker’s profits fall

Constellation Brands Inc., which sells Mondavi wine, Corona beer and Svedka vodka, said Wednesday its fiscal third-quarter profit fell 30 percent because of restructuring costs and weaker sales, and it trimmed the top end of its 2009 forecast amid the slowing global economy.

Its shares fell 7 percent.

The world’s biggest winemaker by volume said it earned $83.5 million, or 38 cents a share, in the quarter ended Nov. 30, down from $119.6 million, or 55 cents a share, a year earlier. Excluding one-time charges, it earned $132 million, or 60 cents a share, topping Wall Street’s forecast by a penny.

Intel drops outlook for 4th quarter

Even after sharply reducing its outlook for the fourth quarter, Intel Corp. said Wednesday that it would miss its revenue projection by about $500 million, a sign that PC makers and buyers are being more tightfisted than it seemed only two months ago.

Intel shares fell nearly 5 percent.

Santa Clara, Calif.-based Intel, the world’s largest chip maker, now says revenue was $8.2 billion for the last three months of 2008, a 23 percent decline from the year-ago period.

Supervalu posts loss for 3rd quarter

Hefty one-time charges led Supervalu Inc. to post a big loss for its fiscal third quarter on Wednesday, but the grocer beat Wall Street estimates when the special items were excluded from the results.

For the quarter ended Nov. 29, Supervalu posted a loss of $2.94 billion, or $13.95 per share, compared with a profit of $141 million, or 66 cents per share, in the year-ago period.

Supervalu, which is based in Minneapolis, earned 62 cents per share when the charges are excluded. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected a profit of 60 cents per share.

The $3.3 billion in charges stemmed from an accounting requirement that the company write down the value of some intangible assets.

DEVELOPMENT

MGM-Infinity hotel opening delayed

CityCenter Holdings LLC, a joint venture between MGM Mirage and Infinity World Development Corp., said Wednesday that it has postponed the opening of its Harmon hotel and spa until late 2010 and canceled the residential condominium part of the project.

The hotel is one part of the CityCenter complex, a 67-acre mixed-use project on the Las Vegas Strip. When finished, the Harmon will include about 400 rooms and suites, CityCenter said.

The Harmon was originally designed to have about 200 residential units, of which 88 are under contract to be sold. Those buyers will be entitled to refunds of their deposits, but also will be given the opportunity to buy units at the Mandarin Oriental Las Vegas, Vdara and Veer Towers, CityCenter said.

FINANCES

S&P appoints ombudsman

Longtime financial services executive Ray Groves was named on Wednesday as the ombudsman for Standard & Poor’s, a financial market information and credit ratings provider.

The move comes as part of a previously outlined plan by S&P to increase transparency, strengthen the ratings process and better serve capital markets.

Groves will report to Harold McGraw III, chairman, president and chief executive of the McGraw-Hill Cos. Standard & Poor’s is a unit of McGraw-Hill.

Credit ratings agencies, including S&P, have come under fire since 2007 amid the deepening credit crisis and as the value of many structured investments such as mortgage-backed securities have plummeted amid rising defaults. Ratings on billions of dollars worth of securities have been cut since the current market turmoil began more than a year ago.

MEDIA

Journal Register sells two papers

Financially troubled Journal Register Co. has agreed to sell two of its daily newspapers in Connecticut, less than two weeks before its deadline to shut down the publications.

Edward Gunderson, publisher of The Herald of New Britain and The Bristol Press, said that Michael E. Schroeder, owner of Central Connecticut Communications, has signed a letter of intent to buy the two daily newspapers.

The sale should be complete within two weeks. The deal also includes the purchase of three weekly papers —- the Wethersfield Post, the Newington Town Crier and the Rocky Hill Post.

RETAIL

Sam’s CEO to head international unit

Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the world’s largest retailer, on Wednesday named the president and CEO of its Sam’s Club warehouse division to fill the same roles at its international unit.

Doug McMillon, 42, fills the spot in the company’s second-largest operating segment left by Mike Duke, who was tapped in late November to succeed Lee Scott as Wal-Mart’s chief executive.

Analysts said when Duke was named CEO was a sign that the company sees its future growth overseas. The international business is the fastest-growing division at the world’s largest retailer.

Duke and McMillon will assume their new duties Feb. 1.