Larger text Larger text Smaller text Smaller text Print E-mail

US Airways CEO salary set at $550,000, plus bonus

By staff and wire reports Wednesday, November 9, 2005
US Airways Group directors set the annual base salary for Chairman and Chief Executive Doug Parker at $550,000, according to a securities filing Tuesday. The CEO is also eligible for a performance bonus of as much as $1.1 million, or double the base pay. Executive Vice President of Sales and Marketing J. Scott Kirby, and EVP and Chief Administrative Officer Jeffrey McClelland each will receive $425,000 in base pay, plus as much as $743,750 in performance bonuses. EVP of Operations Alan Crellin will receive a base pay of $400,000, plus up to $700,000 in performance bonuses. Rounding out the five-highest-paid is Chief Financial Officer Derek Kerr, who will get $300,000 in base pay, plus up to $420,000 in performance bonuses. Vice Chairman Bruce Lakefield was not among the highest-paid listed. As CEO of the pre-merged US Airways, Lakefield received $286,058 in base salary during his eight months as chief executive last year.

Local gas prices fall

The average price of a gallon of gasoline in Western Pennsylvania continues to fall, down 7.3 cents for the week ended Tuesday, AAA Central reported. The average price for a gallon of regular from a self-service pump has dropped for five consecutive weeks and stands at $2.204, the AAA Fuel Gauge Report found. Crude oil is selling at roughly $59 per barrel, the lowest price in three months, with gasoline prices falling in tandem, AAA said. Consumption of gasoline currently is flat compared to one year ago. Nationwide, the average price is $2.378, down roughly 10 cents from the previous week. While prices locally continue to fall, one year ago the price was 26.5 cents cheaper, at $1.939.

Verizon has 2 new calling plans

Verizon has introduced two lower-cost telephone service bundles for customers in Pennsylvania and eight other markets. Verizon Freedom Essentials gives callers unlimited local, regional and domestic long-distance service with home voice mail, call waiting and caller ID for $39.95; the Freedom Value plan offers any-distance domestic calling, with no features, for $34.95. While customers still can buy phone service a la carte, about 63 percent now subscribe to one of the bundled plans the company began four years ago, spokesman Jim Smith said. The new plans -- priced lower than other service bundles -- come in response to increased telecommunciations competition and can be combined with high-speed Internet and DirecTV satellite service.

Great expectations for Xbox

Microsoft Corp. expects to sell up to 3 million of its new Xbox video-game consoles within 90 days of the product's launch Nov. 22 in North America, an executive said. Bryan Lee, chief financial officer with Microsoft's Home and Entertainment unit, told investors Tuesday in New York that he also expects consumers to spend $1.5 billion in the first 90 days after the Xbox 360's launch on the console and peripherals such as games and subscriptions to its Xbox Live online gameplay service. The company will charge $399.99 for the Xbox 360, and $299.99 for a scaled-back version.

Buyout for Linens N Things

Home accessories retailer Linens N Things Inc. on Tuesday said it agreed to be acquired by a company formed by Apollo Management LP in a deal worth about $1.3 billion. Under the agreement, shareholders will receive $28 in cash for each share of Linens N Things. Directors have unanimously approved the transaction, which is expected to close in the first or second quarter of 2006. The acquisition requires shareholder and regulatory approval. Linens N Things has 516 stores nationwide.

Wyndham to become Marriott

The 314-room hotel on Aten Road in Moon, near Pittsburgh International Airport, has dropped its Wyndham name and will become a Marriott hotel after renovations planned there, said Melissa Thompson, spokeswoman for Interstate Hotels & Resorts. A partnership consisting of a private investment fund managed by Goldman Sachs and affiliates of Highgate Holdings recently bought 22 hotels nationwide and chose Interstate to manage them. The partnership allocated $75 million for renovations.

S&P rates UPMC bonds

Allegheny County Hospital Development Authority bonds totalling $210 million to be sold next week on behalf of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center garnered high ratings from Standard & Poor's. UPMC's $105 million Series A, auction-rate revenue bonds were assigned an "A+" long-term rating, while $105 million in Series B debt was given an "A+/A-1" rating. The outlook was positive. The ratings service also reaffirmed its "A+"underlying ratings on various outstanding bonds issued on behalf of UPMC. Standard & Poor's in a news release said its positive outlook reflects UPMC's improved financial profile that "if sustained for the next two years is likely to lead to an upgrade to the 'AA' category."

Earnings

  • iGate Corp. said Tuesday it had second-quarter net income of $875,000, or 2 cents per diluted share, compared to a net loss of $1.8 million, or 3 cents per share, in the year-ago period. Revenue for the quarter increased 5.3 percent to $70.1 milion from the year-ago quarter, primarily due to growth at its offshore subsidiary, iGate Global Solutions. The company, which provides information technology consulting services, systems integration and business process outsourcing, said it increased its ratio of offshore development to client-site work to 68 percent offshore, from 57 percent in the year-ago quarter. It hired 73 employees at its India offshore locations, increasing employment in that country to 4,360. A construction project to add 1,000 employee seats at its Bangalore campus is expected to be complete in 2007.

  • Commercial National Financial Corp., the Latrobe-based parent of Commercial Bank & Trust, reported quarterly net income of $773,000, or 23 cents a share. That compares with a year-ago loss of more than $2.2 million, or minus 65 cents a share. Results last year included a one-time charge of $4.4 million for a prepayment penalty. Total assets declined 1.8 percent to $325 million as of Sept. 30.

  • EchoStar Communications Corp.'s third-quarter earnings more than doubled, driven by revenue growth and the addition of 255,000 net new subscribers. The Englewood, Colo.-based satellite-TV broadcaster said net income rose to $208.9 million, or 46 cents a share, from $102.3 million, or 22 cents a share, a year earlier. Revenue rose 14 percent to $2.13 billion, from $1.86 billion.

    Other business news

  • A spray-applied polyurethane roofing foam from BaySystems North America, a subsidiary of Bayer MaterialScience LLC, was used to temporarily fix the Louisiana Superdome roof, which was partially destroyed by Hurricane Katrina in August. The company said its polyurethane roofing system produces a rigid plastic that expands during curing and becomes a seamless, leak-resistant layer of closed cell insulating foam. Bayer MaterialScience is a unit of Pittsburgh-based Bayer Corp.

  • The dollar rose to its highest level against the euro in nearly two years Tuesday, amid climbing U.S. interest rates and continuing political uncertainty in Europe. The 12-nation euro traded at $1.1787 late in the day in New York, after falling to $1.1711 earlier -- its lowest point since it traded at $1.1631 on Nov. 13, 2003. Late Monday, the euro traded at $1.1793.

  • D'Appolonia, a Monroeville-based consulting firm, was awarded a $920,000 contract by the federal labor department's Mine Safety and Health Administration to update and develop an engineering practices manual for the design, construction, maintenance and monitoring of coal refuse impoundments. Work is expected to be completed in March 2007.


    More Business Briefs headlines

    Subscribe to the Tribune-Review today



    • Advertising Information | Advertiser List | About our ads