THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, January 31, 1996 TAG: 9601300372
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: D2 EDITION: FINAL
LENGTH: Short : 48 lines
MCI quarterly profits totaled $284 million
MCI Communications Corp. reported a fourth-quarter profit of $284 million, up 17 percent from a year ago. The profit came to 41 cents a share for the three months ended Dec. 31. A year ago, MCI earned $243 million, or 35 cents a share, in the same period. Revenue in the fourth quarter was $4.1 billion, up 22 percent from $3.4 billion a year ago. (AP)
Beverly Enterprises posts $63.8 million loss
Beverly Enterprises Inc., the Arkansas-based nursing-home operator with operations in Virginia Beach, reported a fourth-quarter loss of $63.8 million as it took a large charge for an accounting change. The loss for the largest U.S. nursing-home operator amounted to 65 cents a share, compared with year-ago net income of $16.9 million, or 17 cents. The loss includes a previously announced pretax charge of $108.7 million for an accounting change and writing off software and business-development costs. Beverly also took a $4 million pretax charge for job cuts. Revenue rose 5.6 percent to $807.7 million from $764.7 million. (Bloomberg Business News)
December home sales up from year-earlier period
Local home sales went up to 1,245 during December 1995, a 19 percent increase over December 1994, according to the Virginia Home Sales Survey released by the Virginia Association of Realtors. Pending home sales in Hampton Roads for the year, however, were flat. There were 21,789 single-family houses under contract in 1995 compared with 21,423 for 1994. That's a slight increase of 1.7 percent. Pending sales, houses that have been sold but have not closed, are the best indicator of local sales. Home sales in Virginia, however, fell behind last year's numbers. Through December, 61,718 homes were reported under contract, a 0.13 decrease from last year's 61,799. (Staff)
Saab recalls convertibles for possible steering flaw
Saab Cars USA Inc. is recalling 8,927 1995 Saab 900 convertibles because of a flaw that could cause loss of steering control. The move is part of a larger recall by Saab Automobile AB in Sweden that involves a total of 18,900 of the cars. (AP) by CNB