Business news in brief

Construction workers build the roof of a town house in WoodRidge, N.J., in February.
Construction workers build the roof of a town house in WoodRidge, N.J., in February.

Homebuilder confidence off 4th month

NEW YORK -- Homebuilder confidence slid for the fourth consecutive month with steadily rising mortgage rates and sky-high home prices putting ownership out of reach for more and more Americans.

The National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo builder sentiment index for April, released Monday, fell one point to 69. Any reading above 50 indicates more builders see sales conditions as good rather than poor, but it's the most extended decline since the run-up to the housing bust 10 years ago.

The index has been above 60 since September 2016 and it hit a record high in December. April's reading is the lowest since November.

-- The Associated Press

Bank of America posts 1Q gain of $6.9B

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Bank of America said it made a record $6.9 billion in profit during the first three months of the year as the bank got a lift from rising interest rates and new cuts to corporate taxes.

The bank said Monday its revenue rose 4 percent to $23.1 billion, compared with $22.2 billion in the same period last year. It marks the latest quarter in which Federal Reserve increases in short-term interest rates have lifted the bank's results.

The quarter is also the first to show how the bank is benefiting from federal tax legislation passed in December that slashes the rate corporations pay on their profits. The bank reported paying $1.47 billion in income taxes, down more than 25 percent from the same quarter last year.

Monday's profit was the highest for any quarter in the bank's history, Chief Executive Officer Brian Moynihan said.

-- Tribune News Service

AT&T, Time Warner chiefs to testify

AT&T Chief Executive Officer Randall Stephenson and Time Warner CEO Jeff Bewkes are expected to testify this week in their antitrust battle with the government.

The Dallas-based telecom company is trying to acquire the New York media and entertainment company in a deal that's valued at nearly $109 billion, including debt. The merger would turn AT&T into a media powerhouse by combining its wireless, cable and satellite businesses with Time Warner's TV and movie content, including CNN, HBO and Warner Bros. Studios.

The Justice Department sued to block the merger, saying AT&T would use Time Warner programming as "a weapon" to drive up rates for TV competitors and ultimately, raise prices for consumers.

Over the past few weeks, the Justice Department has made its case with testimony from AT&T and Time Warner competitors, economists and adversarial witnesses like Time Warner-owned Turner CEO John Martin.

AT&T and Time Warner's legal team will go on the offensive this week and put their own witnesses on the stand. Bewkes is expected to testify, followed by Stephenson later in the week.

-- Tribune News Service

N.C. eggs recalled in salmonella scare

About 207 million eggs supplied by a North Carolina farm are being recalled after more than 20 consumers became ill from suspected salmonella poisoning.

The eggs from a Rose Acre Farms facility in Hyde County, N.C., may be contaminated with a form of salmonella, which can cause serious infection, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said in a statement Friday.

They were sold under several brand names to stores and restaurants in nine states: Colorado, Florida, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Virginia and West Virginia.

"Consumers with these eggs shouldn't eat them," FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb said Sunday. "Throw them away or return them to place of purchase for credit or refund."

The infections were first reported in early March, and a lab on April 11 confirmed that a sample from the Hyde County farm matched a strain that was spurring the illness, the FDA said.

-- Bloomberg News

Business on 04/17/2018

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