Business news in brief

Arkansan pleads guilty in rice-seed theft

KANSAS CITY, Kan. -- A 61-year-old scientist has pleaded guilty to a federal charge nearly three years after he was accused of stealing proprietary rice seeds developed in the U.S. and giving them to a visiting delegation from China.

The Justice Department said Wednesday in a release that Wengui Yan of Stuttgart, Ark., pleaded guilty Monday in federal court in Kansas to one count of making false statements to the FBI.

Yan, who worked as a geneticist for the U.S. Department of Agriculture at the Dale Bumpers National Research Center in Stuttgart, was originally charged in December 2013, along with Weiqiang Zhang, a Kansas scientist, of conspiracy to steal trade secrets and theft of trade secrets.

According to the plea, Yan admitted knowing about plans to steal rice samples and send them to China.

-- The Associated Press

Airbus cuts 582 jobs at helicopter unit

Airbus Group SE announced the first of what may prove to be thousands of job cuts across its business, saying it will eliminate 582 posts at its helicopter arm after a slump in demand from the oil and gas industry and a fatal crash that grounded one of its most popular models.

The cuts will come at the main Airbus Helicopters base in Marignane, near Marseille, which has 8,944 people in its workforce, and La Courneuve, on the outskirts of Paris, which employs 750 people, and amount to about 6 percent of the unit's French payroll. The division has about 23,000 staff members worldwide.

The loss of an H225 Super Puma helicopter in the North Sea on April 29, which killed 13 people, prompted the European Aviation Safety Agency to ground the model after an investigation found that the main rotor hub had detached from the gearbox. While the safety agency lifted the ban on the heavy-lift model after recommending modifications, the ban remains in place in Norway and the U.K., curbing flights with the oil industry workhorse and denting vital services revenue for Airbus.

Helicopter operations among oil and gas companies were already on the decline as the lower price of crude led them to rein in flights. Airbus also sold more light models in the first nine months and accrued unspecified "campaign costs," the Toulouse, France-based company said in an earnings release, with helicopter profit falling 17 percent to $219 million.

-- Bloomberg News

Report: Not gaining on pay gender gap

A World Economic Forum assessment of gender gaps released Wednesday found that, at the current pace, pay equality between men and women will happen in about 170 years.

While international figures from German Chancellor Angela Merkel to U.S. Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton and U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May have placed greater focus on women in leadership roles, the outlook for the average female worker remains grim. In fact, it has deteriorated. In the past 12 months, the target for when men and women would get equal pay moved 52 years into the future -- to 2186.

Income disparity is a persistent problem, the report showed, noting that average female salaries are almost half of those of men -- $10,778 a year compared with $19,873. The participation rate for female workers is also lower, and education gains don't necessarily translate into economic gains.

Out of the 144 countries covered by the index, those in the Nordic region -- in particular Iceland, Finland, Norway and Sweden -- fared best in the assessment of improvements in education, economic opportunities, health and political empowerment, while the U.S. ranked 45th. Saudi Arabia, Syria, Pakistan and Yemen were at the bottom of the list.

-- Bloomberg News

EpiPen competitor's injector to return

Mylan NV's dominance of the U.S. allergy-shot market will be challenged next year as drugmaker Kaleo Inc. said it will resume sales of a competing product that was recalled last year.

Kaleo's injector, called Auvi-Q, was recalled from U.S. sales about a year ago over potential malfunctions that could give patients the wrong drug dose. Closely held Kaleo said in a statement Wednesday that the shot will return to the market in the first half of 2017. It hasn't settled on a price, said Chief Executive Officer Spencer Williamson in a phone interview.

"We're working with multiple stakeholders including wholesalers, pharmacy benefit managers, insurers, etc., to establish a comprehensive access program," he said. "We're focused on minimizing the out-of-pocket costs for the patient."

Kaleo's announcement comes as Mylan has been under fire for the price of its EpiPen product, which is used to counteract life-threatening anaphylactic reactions. EpiPen's wholesale price has jumped sixfold since 2007 to list for about $600 for a two-pack.

-- Bloomberg News

AIG raises terrorism claims limit to $1B

American International Group Inc. lifted limits on property claims tied to acts of terrorism to $1 billion as clients ask for more protection in larger cities.

The previous limit was $250 million, New York-based AIG said Wednesday in a statement. Protection can be purchased alone or as part of a larger, $2.5 billion property-insurance policy that provides coverage for a broader array of risks.

"Demand from our clients for better protection against this risk has been strong," George Stratts, AIG's president of property and specialty risks, said in the statement. The coverage is intended to "respond to terrorist attacks worldwide."

Terrorist events have spurred demand for coverage for property damage, cyberattacks or injuries to employees, and about 60 percent of U.S. businesses buy policies against such risks, according to the Insurance Information Institute. Corporations can obtain terrorism insurance limits of more than $1 billion at Lloyd's of London and National Fire & Marine Insurance Co., a division of Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc., insurance broker Marsh & McLennan Cos. said in a July report.

AIG also offers cyber policies that can cover losses tied to data breach, property damage and bodily injury caused by an attack, according to Matt Gallagher, a spokesman for the company. That's separate from the insurance covered by Wednesday's announcement.

-- Bloomberg News

Business on 10/27/2016

Upcoming Events