Business news in brief

NextEra to sell power plants for $1.59B

NextEra Energy Inc. agreed to sell two natural gas-fired generators in Texas to an affiliate of Energy Future Holdings Corp. for $1.59 billion as it seeks to reduce its exposure to the competitive power business.

Luminant will buy NextEra Energy Resources LLC's La Frontera portfolio, which consists of the Forney and Lamar generating assets, according to a statement Friday. Their combined generating capacity can power about 1.5 million homes.

"We view this transaction as a significant positive, further de-risking NextEra Energy's business model," Michael Worms, a New York-based analyst for BMO Capital Markets, said in a note to clients Friday. "We would expect proceeds from the sale to be applied toward the continued build out of its renewables backlog."

The sale ranks among the top 10 U.S. power deals this year, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Utility owners have been divesting plants that sell power on competitive markets to focus on regulated operations where profit is more predictable. It comes also as Energy Future enters what may be the final phase of its reorganization, after 18 months in bankruptcy.

-- Bloomberg News

Hawaii bank patrons see red -- lots of it

HONOLULU -- A technical glitch meant some First Hawaiian Bank customers logged on to their accounts to find that they appeared to be billions of dollars, or sometimes more than a trillion dollars, in the red.

KHON-TV reported that bank officials said the glitch was visible to customers who logged on to their accounts during a 20-minute window Wednesday. They said no actual customer information or balances were affected by the problem.

Customers who logged in at that time saw outstanding balances of at least $710 billion.

Kauai resident George White said that when he saw the error, all he could think was, "Well, my wife is going to kill me."

First Hawaii Bank said in a statement that the problem was resolved quickly and that the bank apologized to customers who were inconvenienced.

-- The Associated Press

Toys R Us CEO tempers growth outlook

Toys R Us Inc. Chief Executive Officer Dave Brandon said the toy industry isn't putting up the kind of growth numbers that some predicted this Christmas shopping season.

Though Toys R Us met its revenue target for Thanksgiving Day, the broader toy category has been more sluggish than expected, Brandon said in an interview. Still, it's early in the season, he said. NPD Group estimated earlier this year that U.S. toy sales would be up 6.2 percent in 2015, one of the industry's best performances in more than a decade.

"My preliminary view is we're not seeing 6 percent to 7 percent category growth," Brandon said in an interview. "Now maybe it's still out there. We'll see."

The remarks add to concerns that Christmas sales will be a disappointment for retailers. Some retail analysts have observed slower traffic at U.S. shopping centers on Black Friday, the traditional kickoff to the season.

-- Bloomberg News

Swiss convict ex-HSBC worker for leak

GENEVA -- A Swiss court has convicted in absentia a former employee with international bank HSBC for economic espionage and sentenced him to five years in prison.

Herve Falciani, 43, was on trial for leaking bank data that led to a worldwide wave of tax-evasion investigations against prominent clients with accounts in Switzerland.

Falciani, seen by some as a crucial whistleblower, had refused to travel from his native France to appear before the Swiss Federal Tribunal in Bellinzona in proceedings that began in October. France does not extradite its own citizens, and Falciani appears unlikely to serve the sentence.

He was charged with illegally obtaining data, economic espionage, breach of business confidentiality and breach of bank secrecy while working at a Swiss HSBC subsidiary between 2006 and 2008.

The court in the southern Swiss town of Bellinzona threw out all the charges except for one alleging a "serious" violation of economic intelligence, for having made public information about private and public foreign entities in Lebanon, France, Germany and Britain, according to court documents.

He was ordered to serve five years in prison, minus 170 days that he had served in pre-extradition detention in Spain.

-- The Associated Press

On sick leave, United CEO visits workers

Oscar Munoz, the chief executive officer of United Continental Holdings Inc., interrupted his recuperation from a heart attack to visit workers at the airline's operations center on Thanksgiving.

United confirmed the visit to the Chicago center and declined to provide further details. Munoz, 56, suffered the heart attack in mid-October, a month after being chosen to succeed Jeff Smisek as CEO. United declined to say whether the visit was Munoz's first appearance with workers since he fell ill.

"Our team was happy to see Oscar and his family for the holiday, and we look forward to his return next year," Karen May, a United spokesman, said Friday. The airline has said Munoz would return to work in the first quarter.

Brett Hart, United's general counsel, has been serving as interim CEO.

-- Bloomberg News

NYSE delisting National Bank of Greece

The New York Stock Exchange is delisting American depositary receipts of National Bank of Greece SA after they lost 91 percent of their value this year.

The American depositary receipts were suspended on Friday, when their value slumped to 16 cents from as much as $1.96 in February. The NYSE cited an "abnormally low" price in a statement.

Losses spiraled to a record this month after the Greek lender sold new shares at a more than 90 percent discount to market prices. The nation's four largest banks are raising capital to help fill a $15.3 billion hole in their accounts identified by the European Central Bank.

National Bank of Greece has the right to appeal the decision to a committee of the board of directors of the NYSE.

-- Bloomberg News

Business on 11/28/2015

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