Business news in brief

In this photo made on Thursday, June 5, 2014, clouds are reflected in the Ford sign at a dealership in Wexford, Pa. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says it is investigating steering problems in about 500,000 Ford cars. The investigation covers 2004 to 2007 Crown Victoria, Grand Marquis and Marauder models.
In this photo made on Thursday, June 5, 2014, clouds are reflected in the Ford sign at a dealership in Wexford, Pa. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says it is investigating steering problems in about 500,000 Ford cars. The investigation covers 2004 to 2007 Crown Victoria, Grand Marquis and Marauder models.

U.S. agency probes Ford steering issues

NEW YORK -- The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said it is investigating steering problems in about 500,000 Ford cars.

The investigation covers 2004 to 2007 Crown Victoria, Grand Marquis and Marauder models.

The safety agency said a heat shield in the car can rust, dislodge and cause the steering shaft to jam. It has received five complaints about the issue and knows of one injury.

Ford Motor Co. said it will cooperate in the investigation.

Ford shares rose 17 cents to close Friday at $17.47. They have risen more than 11 percent in the past three months.

-- The Associated Press

U.S. said to put import duties on steel

The Obama administration has imposed duties on steel pipe from South Korea and eight other countries in a victory for U.S. Steel Corp. and the United Steelworkers union, which said they were hurt by unfair competition from overseas, said two people told of the decision.

The U.S. Commerce Department set final duties ranging from 9.89 percent to 15.75 percent on Korean pipes, which is used in oil drilling, said the people who requested anonymity before an announcement. Last year, $818 million worth of the pipes were exported to the U.S. from South Korea. Duties also were imposed Friday on eight other countries, which exported an additional $722 million worth of pipe to the U.S. last year.

The agency determined the steel pipe had been sold in the U.S. below cost, or dumped, in violation of international trade rules.

The other countries affected by the ruling are India, Philippines, Saudi Arabia, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, Ukraine and Vietnam.

-- Bloomberg News

Wells Fargo posts 3% boost in profits

Wells Fargo said its second-quarter profit edged up 3 percent, helped by higher deposit balances and a drop in the amount of bad loans. Revenue slipped.

The country's largest mortgage lender said early Friday that net income rose to $5.42 billion for the three months ending in June, up from $5.27 billion a year earlier. That's after taking out dividends for preferred stock.

Revenue declined 1 percent to $21.1 billion over the year. That was better than the $20.8 billion analysts had expected, according to the data provider FactSet.

Measured for every share, quarterly earnings were $1.01, exactly what analysts had forecast.

Wells Fargo funded $47 billion worth of mortgages in the first quarter, a steep drop from the $112 billion in home loans made a year earlier. Total loans crept up 4 percent to $829 billion, and total average deposits increased 9 percent to $1.1 trillion.

At the same time, Wells Fargo lowered its losses on loans in the second quarter by 52 percent to $717 million. That's down from $1.2 billion the year before.

As the first major bank to post results this earnings season, San Francisco-based Wells Fargo & Co. sets the tone for the rest of the industry. The third-largest U.S. bank by assets has turned a profit in every quarter since 2009.

The bank's stock fell 32 cents to close Friday at $51.49. Wells Fargo has traded as high as $53.08 and as low as $40.07 over the past year.

-- The Associated Press

Whirlpool buys 66.8% stake in Italy firm

BENTON HARBOR, Mich. -- Whirlpool will pay more than $1 billion for a controlling stake in Indesit, the appliance maker's counterpart in Italy.

The deal announced Friday will put the U.S. company in possession of shares representing 66.8 percent of Indesit's voting stock. Whirlpool, which also owns Maytag, KitchenAid and other brands, will pay $15.06 per Indesit share.

"We believe this will ideally position us for sustainable growth in the highly competitive and increasingly global home appliance market in Europe," Whirlpool Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Jeff Fettig said.

Whirlpool has been working on strengthening its presence overseas. Last year it agreed to acquire a majority stake in Chinese appliance maker Hefei Rongshida Sanyo Electric Co. Ltd. for about $552 million.

The Benton Harbor manufacturer will be buying a 42.7 percent interest in Indesit Co. from Fineldo, an Italian engineering company, and a 17.6 percent stake from the Merloni family, which founded the company.

The stock purchase agreements with Fineldo and the Merloni family are expected to close by year's end.

Shares of Whirlpool Corp. rose $1.55, or 1.1 percent, to close Friday at $140.76.

-- The Associated Press

Business on 07/12/2014

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