BUSINESS BRIEFS
Spending rise slows in March
Advertiser Staff and News Services
WASHINGTON — Consumer spending rose at the weakest pace in five months in March as a surge in gasoline prices left shoppers with little left over for other items.
The Commerce Department reported consumer spending on all items was up 0.3 percent last month, the slowest increase since a similar rise in October. That lackluster gain came even though personal incomes rose by a healthy 0.7 percent last month.
The spending performance in March was even weaker when the effects of higher gasoline prices were removed. After adjusting for price increases, consumer spending actually fell by 0.2 percent in March, the poorest showing since September 2005 when the economy was suffering the aftershocks of Hurricane Katrina.
ENERGY FIRM SELLS OFFSHORE UNIT
RICHMOND, Va. — Dominion Resources Inc. said it plans to sell its offshore U.S. oil and natural gas business to a subsidiary of Italian energy company Eni SpA for about $4.76 billion.
The deal with Eni Petroleum Co. includes about 967 billion cubic feet equivalent of natural gas and oil reserves in the Gulf of Mexico, about 15 percent to 18 percent of Dominion's total proved reserves. Average daily production in 2006 was about 503 million cubic feet, Dominion said.
The sale is part of the Richmond energy company's previously announced plan to refocus on its electric generation and energy distribution, transmission, storage and retail operations.
PROFITS RISE AT TYSON FOODS
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Tyson Foods Inc., the world's largest meat company, said yesterday it swung to a profit of $68 million in the latest quarter.
Tyson had lost $127 million, or 37 cents per share, in the same period a year ago. Its profit of 19 cents per share beat analysts' expectations of 11 cents per share on revenue of $6.4 billion. Tyson had sales of $6.5 billion for the January-March quarter, compared with $6.3 billion a year before.
