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December 5, 2006
Airlines
name='1'>Delta and PBGC Reach Agreement on Pilots’ Pension
Plan
Delta Air Lines and the
Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. (PBGC) have signed off on a deal to
terminate the airline’s pension plans under an agreement that
would award the government’s pension insurer an unsecured claim of
$2.2 billion in Delta’s bankruptcy, Bankruptcy
Law360 reported yesterday. The bankruptcy
court previously determined that Delta could not reorganize or emerge
from chapter 11 unless the pilot plan was terminated. Delta’s
unsecured creditors gave their full support in signing the agreement,
which has been submitted to the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for approval, the
company said. Retired Delta pilots will
receive in excess of $800 million in allowed claims in respect of their
lost nonqualified pension benefits, the airline said.
href='http://bankruptcy.law360.com/secure/ViewArticle.aspx?Id=14504'>Read
more. (Registration required.)
name='2'>Comair, Pilots to Continue Negotiations
Comair and its pilots
have agreed to continue negotiations next week in their effort to reach
a pay-cutting deal urged by a federal bankruptcy judge, the Associated
Press reported yesterday. The two groups failed to reach a deal Monday
in their first negotiating session since Nov. 16, but agreed to meet on
five days this month. Judge
size='3'>Adlai Hardin told both sides last
week to try to reach a deal while he considers the request by the Delta
Air Lines Inc. subsidiary to throw out its pilots' labor contract. Judge
Hardin heard four days of testimony last week surrounding Comair's
request to impose $15.8 million in concessions on its 1,500
pilots.
href='http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/061204/comair_pilots.html?.v=1'>Read
more .
Autos
Auto Prosperity Shifts South, Two Towns Offer Different
Perspectives
The towns of
size='3'>Livonia
w:st='on'>
size='3'>Mich.
w:st='on'>
size='3'>Detroit
size='3'>Georgetown
w:st='on'>
size='3'>Ky.
impact of a broader economic shift of the nation’s auto industry
from north to south, as
w:st='on'>
size='3'>Detroit
and their surging Asian competitors invest in Southern states,
the New York
Times reported today.
w:st='on'>
size='3'>Livonia
as
size='3'>Detroit
automakers close factories and eliminate blue- and white-collar
jobs.
size='3'>Georgetown
booming because of
size='3'>, which has invested more than $5 billion in a sprawling
manufacturing complex, leading to the construction of new schools,
hotels and dozens of smaller factories run by suppliers to
size='3'>Toyota
last two decades, the number of automotive-related manufacturing
jobs in
face='Times New Roman' size='3'>Michigan
has fallen 34 percent, according to Economy.com. By
contrast, the number of automotive jobs in
w:st='on'>
size='3'>Kentucky
href='http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/05/business/05cities.html?_r=1&oref=slogin&ref=business&pagewanted=print'>Read
more.
name='4'>Dana to Sell Engine Unit
Dana Corp., which has been
looking to divest certain assets and emerge from bankruptcy by the end
of 2007, has agreed to sell its engine hard parts business to German
supplierMahle GmbH
for $157 million,
size='3'>Bankruptcy Law360 reported yesterday.
The deal, which was revealed Monday, is still subject to bankruptcy
court approval, government regulatory approval and customer closing
conditions. Moreover, Dana filed a motion with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court
in
size='3'>Manhattan
competitive bids before the sale becomes final. Overall, Dana’s
engine hard parts business consists of 39 facilities in 10 countries,
with revenues totaling $670 million in 2005.
href='http://bankruptcy.law360.com/Secure/ViewArticle.aspx?id=14465'>Read
more. (Registration required.)
Records Requests Exclusivity Extension
As it prepares to close
its stores for good, music retailer Tower Records has asked for an
extension of four months to formulate a reorganization plan without
outside interference,
size='3'>Bankruptcy Law360 reported yesterday.
In court papers filed Thursday with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in
size='3'>Wilmington
w:st='on'>
size='3'>Del.
the large scale and complexity of its chapter 11 proceedings
necessitated an extension to its exclusivity period. The company pointed
out that it has already obtained debtor-in-possession financing,
conducted an asset sale, downsized its business, established a claims
bar date, and made strides in repaying its senior secured debt since
filing for bankruptcy on Aug. 20. A hearing on Tower’s request
will take place Dec. 18. If the motion is approved, Tower’s
exclusivity date would be pushed back to April 17, and its deadline for
receiving creditor support for the plan would be moved to June
18.
href='http://bankruptcy.law360.com/Secure/ViewArticle.aspx?id=14483'>Read
more. (Registration required.)
name='6'>Finova to Possibly File Again for Chapter 11
U.S. Bankruptcy
Judge Peter
Walsh approved a settlement between Finova
Capital Corp. and Thaxton Group Inc., paving the way for Finova to
possibly file for bankruptcy again, Bankruptcy Law360 reported
yesterday. On Monday, Judge Walsh signed off on the deal, ending
Thaxton’s stay in bankruptcy but potentially reviving
Finova’s case. Earlier this month, Finova asked the court to let
it reenter chapter 11, five years after first emerging from that state,
in order to sell off its assets. Before the company would be allowed to
reenter chapter 11, Finova had to first resolve a dispute with Thaxton
over $95 million it turned over in August. Thaxton has been in chapter
11 protection since 2003, when the high-risk lender collapsed in a $242
million meltdown amid charges that Thaxton and
face='Times New Roman' size='3'>Finova committed securities
fraud.
href='http://bankruptcy.law360.com/Secure/ViewArticle.aspx?id=14439'>Read
more. (Registration required.)
name='7'>Global Home Asks for 120-Day Extension
Insolvent housewares
maker Global Home Products LLC has asked a bankruptcy court to extend
the deadline for its reorganization plan, requesting an additional 120
days to file and solicit creditor approval of the plan,
face='Times New Roman' size='3'>Bankruptcy Law360
size='3'>reported yesterday. Global Home, which has already been granted
one 120-day extension, asked the court to push the date back to June 2
to give the company more time to “negotiate an acceptable plan
with creditors.” Global Home received a different sort of
extension last month, when Judge Kevin Gross
size='3'>gave the company more time to use its cash collateral to secure
a lender’s claim, allowing it to avoid the expenses of negotiating
a new credit agreement with different lenders.
href='http://bankruptcy.law360.com/Secure/ViewArticle.aspx?id=14473'>Read
more. (Registration required.)
name='8'>Uniform Maker Wins Exclusivity Extension
Bankrupt uniform maker
Best Manufacturing Group LLC on Thursday was granted a four-month
extension of its exclusive period to file a chapter 11 reorganization
plan, Bankruptcy
Law360 reported yesterday. Judge
Donald H. Steckroth
of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in
w:st='on'>
size='3'>Newark
w:st='on'>
size='3'>N.J.
Best’s deadline to file from Dec. 7 to April 6 of next year. Best
will have until June 6 to solicit acceptances of the proposed
plan,Judge Steckroth
said. The previous deadline for acceptances was February5.
href='http://bankruptcy.law360.com/Secure/ViewArticle.aspx?id=14484'>Read
more. (Registration required.)
name='9'>Agreement Elusive on Accounting Rule Change
Regulators continue to
revise an accounting rule criticized by business groups as overly
expensive, Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chairman Christopher
Cox said yesterday, but an agreement remains days away, the
Washington Post
reported today. Officials at the SEC and the board that
oversees the audit industry have been meeting and exchanging documents
about the measure, which requires accountants to review corporate
financial controls, for the better part of two weeks. The rule is the
single most expensive part of the Sarbanes-Oxley law, corporate
accountability legislation passed in 2002 that is designed to prevent
fraud after collapses at Enron and WorldCom. Trade groups and lawmakers
have attacked the provision and called for regulators to scrap the
burdensome approach. At the same time, consumer advocates warn that
establishing different standards for thousands of small and mid-size
businesses would effectively gut the measure and make financial reports
less reliable for investors.
href='http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/04/AR2006120401199.html'>Read
more.
name='10'>Toll Brothers Posts 44 Percent Decline, Forecasts Lower
2007 Profit
Toll Brothers Inc. said
its net profit fell 44 percent in its fiscal fourth quarter amid a
home-building slowdown, and the luxury-home builder said fiscal 2007
profit may decline by as much as 62 percent, but it also raised hopes on
a turnaround in the housing market, the Wall Street
Journal reported today. The Horsham, Pa.-based
company said that fourth quarter net income ended Oct. 31 fell to $173.8
million. Revenue fell 10 percent to $1.81 billion from $2.02 billion.
However, the company raised hopes that the tide may be turning as
the
size='3'>D.C.
seems to have stabilized, although at levels much lower than it enjoyed
a few years back.
href='http://online.wsj.com/article/SB116531493667540988.html?mod=home_whats_news_us'>Read
more . (Registration required.)
name='11'>Credit Managers Daily Business News
Report
The following articles
are taken from the Daily Summary of Troubled & Fast Growing U.S.
Companies published by Bastien Financial Publications.
For more of the latest business news visit
http://dailybusiness.creditmanagers.biz. 
ABI Members receive a 50
percent discount when subscribing to the complete Daily Summary. Enter
“ABI Member” in the comments section when you fill out the
subscriber form.
size='3'>American Electric Power Co. Inc
size='3'>.,
size='3'>Columbus
w:st='on'>
size='3'>Ohio
in
size='3'>Plaquemine
w:st='on'>
size='3'>La.
Chemical Co. of Midland, Mi. for $64 million. Cash from the sale will be
used to pay down American Electric's debt. In its third quarter,
American Electric took a $136 million charge to write down the value of
the
size='3'>Louisiana
size='3'>facility.
size='3'>Blue Holdings Inc. is confident that
it will turn itself around, hoping to benefit from a 50% acquisition of
the Denim Brand Life & Death apparel line. Commerce, Ca.-based Blue
Holdings, which designs and makes high-end denim brands, apparently got
sidetracked in an attempt to purchase Long Rap Inc., a youth-oriented
apparel retailer, with management getting caught up in the failed
acquisition attempt and taking its eye off the rest of the company's
business. The company ended up in the red in the third quarter,
reporting a loss of $400,000, down from a $2.4 million profit in the
year-earlier period. The company blamed late
deliveries and canceled orders. Revenue,
however, was up 5%--to $14.6 million.
size='3'>Bookham Inc., a
w:st='on'>
Jose
face='Times New Roman' size='3'>Calif.
maker of optical networking devices, reported a first
quarter net loss of $22.9 million. The results included restructuring
and impairment charges of $4.8 million. Revenue declined 10%--to $56.4
million.
size='3'>Eisner Communications Inc., one of
the oldest and largest ad agencies in
w:st='on'>
size='3'>Baltimore
w:st='on'>
size='3'>Md.
its operations. The company, which employed
eighty workers as of last spring, reported its revenue last year dropped
40%.
size='3'>Ford Motor Co., Dearborn, Mich.,
reported that vehicle sales fell 10% in November from the year-earlier
month, with its U.S. marketshare dropping from 16.9% to 14.8% in that
period. Also, notable, Ford's share of
the
size='3'>U.S.
fourth place, behind
w:st='on'>
size='3'>Japan
Toyota Motor Corp., for the first time.
w:st='on'>
size='3'>Toyota
16% in November, bringing its marketshare in the
size='3'>U.S.
to 16.5%.
size='3'>HEI Inc., a
w:st='on'>
size='3'>Victoria
w:st='on'>
size='3'>Minn.
size='3'>manufacturer of ultraminiature electronic components, reported
a fourth quarter net loss of $2.6 million. Revenue declined 8%--to $13.9
million. For the year, it lost more than $6 million on a 7% revenue
decline--to $52.6 million. Fiscal earnings per share included a nearly
$1.1 million charge related to the conversion of
stock.
size='3'>Isis Pharmaceuticals Inc.,
size='3'>Carlsbad
w:st='on'>
size='3'>Calif.
a third quarter net loss of $12.1 million. The results included a
$279,000 gain related to restructuring.
size='3'>Revenue sank 56%--to more than $3.2 million.
size='3'>Mills Corp. delayed filing its
financial report for the period ended 9/30 due to the need to restate
financial results going back as far as 2000.
size='3'>The Chevy Chase,
w:st='on'>
size='3'>Md.
size='3'>mall-development company earlier said it will consider
strategic options including a possible sale.
size='3'>Progress Software Corp., a Bedford,
Mass. supplier of business computer programs, anticipates filing its
restated results by 12/15 for 2005 and the first quarter of this year,
related to option-grants accounting problems going back as far as
1996. That doesn't end the company's
backdating headaches, however, as Progress is being sued by the Arkansas
Retirement System related to the stock-options snafus.
size='3'>Scooter Store, an
w:st='on'>
size='3'>Austin
w:st='on'>
size='3'>Texas
distributor of wheelchairs and power scooters, announced it will reduce
its payroll by 200 employees, complaining about cutbacks in Medicare and
Medicaid reimbursement fees for power wheelchairs and
scooters.