News Briefs - Dec. 10
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The Latest Headlines:
- Navistar Chairman Horne to Retire
- Senate Delays Vote on Spending Bill
- Paccar Announces Stock Split, Increases Dividend
- Postal Service Reports Profit for 2003
- Cummins Changes Stock Symbol
- Senate Delays Vote on Spending Bill
Navistar Chairman Horne to Retire
Truck maker Navistar International Corp. said Wednesday John Horne is retiring as chairman and will be succeeded by Chief Executive Officer and President Daniel Ustian on Feb. 17.Ustian will retain his current titles, the company said in a release. He replaced Horne as chief executive in February and has been with the company for 30 years.
Senate Delays Vote on Spending Bill
Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) delayed a vote on a $373 billion spending package until Jan. 20, the first day of the new session of Congress, the Associated Press reported.The House approved the legislation earlier this week. The spending bill should have been completed when the government's new budget year began Oct. 1.
Until the vote, programs will continue running at last year's levels. Those levels are generally lower than the amounts in the legislation, AP said.
The bill includes $45 billion for highway, aviation and mass transit projects that comes from transportation taxes, such as the federal levy on gasoline, AP said. Transport Topics
Paccar Announces Stock Split, Increases Dividend
Truck maker Paccar Inc. said Tuesday its board of directors declared a three-for-two stock split and increased its quarterly dividend.The board also declared an extra cash dividend of $1.20 per share, payable on Jan. 5, to stockholders of record on Dec. 19, Paccar said in a release.
Meanwhile, the new shares resulting from the split will be issued Feb. 5 to stockholders of record on Jan. 19, Paccar said.
The quarterly dividend is increasing to 15 cents from a split-adjusted 14.67 cents, and is payable on March 5, to stockholders of record on Feb. 18. Transport Topics
Postal Service Reports Profit for 2003
The U.S. Postal Service reported a profit of $900 million for fiscal 2003 ended Sept. 30 because of lower expenses and more efficient operations, Bloomberg reported.Sales rose 3% to $68.5 billion, almost $2 billion less than forecast, as first-class volume fell for a second year, Bloomberg said. However, that drop was partly offset by growth in package shipping, where the service competes with United Parcel Service and FedEx Corp.
The service also received a $3-billion gain from a change in the way it funds its retirement system, pushing net income up to $3.9 billion.
The Postal Service lost $677 million in fiscal 2002 and $1.7 billion the year before. Transport Topics
Cummins Changes Stock Symbol
Cummins Inc. said it was changing its stock symbol to "CMI" from "CUM" for its listing on the New York Stock Exchange effective Dec. 10.The maker of diesel engines said in a release the change "more appropriately aligns Cummins stock symbol with its corporate image as a fully-integrated supplier of power and related products."
Cummins previously reported a net income for the third quarter of $24 million or 60 cents per share on sales of $1.63 billion. Transport Topics
