Business news in brief

QUOTE OF THE DAY “Despite a quarter that was difficult for our company, we delivered strong results.” Michael L. Corbat, Citigroup’s chief executive officer Article, 1D

GM replacing 2 execs amid recall woes

DETROIT - General Motors is replacing the executives in charge of communications and human resources as it struggles with a string of recalls that have led to congressional hearings and federal investigations.

Communications chief Selim Bingol and human-resources head Melissa Howell are leaving the company to pursue other interests, the company said Monday in a statement.

John Quattrone, who is executive director of human resources, will replace Howell, but GM has not yet named a replacement for Bingol, the statement said. The changes were effective immediately.

GM is in the midst of a crisis over the safety of some of its older-model vehicles, including 2.6 million small cars worldwide that have been recalled to replace faulty ignition switches. GM says at least 13 deaths have been linked to the switch problem. Family members of those killed say the death toll is much higher.

Wells Fargo securities-lending suit settled

Wells Fargo & Co. settled a lawsuit over claims it mismanaged institutional investors’ collateral received as part of its securities-lending program, lawyers for both sides told a judge as the trial was about to start Monday.

Three union retirement plans sued the lender in 2010.

Jury selection was scheduled to start in St. Paul, Minn., when the attorneys instead announced publicly Monday before U.S. District Judge Donovan Frank that they’d reached an accord. The terms weren’t disclosed.

The trial would have been the third for San Francisco-based Wells Fargo over its program of temporarily lending an institutional investor’s holdings to a third party in exchange for collateral that the bank invests with the objective of producing a profit for its client.

The bank lost a $30.1 million jury verdict in 2010 but won a trial over an $8.2 million claim last year.

“As we informed you this weekend, the parties have reached a resolution,” plaintiffs’ attorney Peter Binkow told the judge Monday.

Frank scheduled a June 5 hearing at which the parties will present a detailed settlement proposal for preliminary approval.

Vidalia onion shipping flap back in court

SAVANNAH, Ga. - One of Georgia’s most prominent Vidalia onion farmers is going back to court to stop the state agriculture commissioner from fining growers who ship the famous sweet onions before a certain date.

Delbert Bland, who grows Vidalia onions on about 3,000 acres in southeast Georgia, won the first round of a court battle with Commissioner Gary Black when a Fulton County judge ruled March 19 that the commissioner overstepped his authority by ordering that no Vidalia onions could be packed for shipping before next Monday. However, the farmer’s court victory has had little immediate effect. Black is telling growers he still plans to enforce the restriction while the state appeals.

Saying he’s got onions ready to ship now, Bland is asking a Superior Court judge on his home turf of Tattnall County to grant an injunction stopping Black until the appeal is resolved. Mike Bowers, Georgia’s former attorney general, represents Bland and is to argue his case today in a Reidsville courtroom.

The legal fight revolves around efforts by the state Department of Agriculture to protect the reputation of Vidalia onions after hearing complaints that the quality of the crop was suffering because of early harvesting. Georgia law, which dictates the area in which Vidalia onions can be grown, allows the agriculture commissioner to set a shipping date in consultation with farmers. The law allows growers to ship onions earlier if federal inspectors give them a top grade, and Bland said Monday that he was to meet with them that day.

  • The Associated Press

Profit sharing to be record at Southwest

Southwest Airlines Co.’s profit sharing will jump 88 percent to a record $228 million this year as the largest low-fare carrier, negotiating new contracts with all of its major unions, shows signs of labor strain.

The payout, which employees will receive in September, represents about 6.3 percent of each worker’s eligible compensation and is up from $121 million last year, the Dallas-based carrier said Monday. It raises Southwest’s annual profit sharing over the past four decades to $2.5 billion.

The record payout is a boon to employees at a time when the airline has faced a legal challenge from airport workers in Chicago, picketing over possible outsourcing and labor leaders upset with a negotiations website.

In contract talks, Southwest wants greater flexibility to use part-time workers in some markets and to pay performance bonuses instead of fixed-scale increases, Chief Operating Officer Mike Van de Ven has said.

  • Bloomberg News

Chinese pork giant plans $5.3 billion IPO

HONG KONG - China’s WH Group, which became the world’s biggest pork company after buying Smithfield Foods of the U.S. last year, said Monday that it plans to raise up to $5.3 billion in an initial public offering on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

“WH Group’s listing on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange is in line with our stature as the world’s largest pork company, with an increasingly global reach,” Chief Executive Officer Wan Long said in a statement.

The company bought Smithfield Foods Inc., the largest U.S. pork company, less than a year ago for $4.7 billion in cash.

-The Associated Press

Business, Pages 26 on 04/15/2014

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