Frontier Airlines is outsourcing revenue accounting work to a Phoenix company and laying off 50 revenue accounting employees, including 17 full-time and 33 part-time employees.
The company brought revenue accounting in house in April 2002 but said outsourcing the work again would result in “significant savings.”
Additional business news briefs:
WASHINGTON
Firm trying to force Mills Corp. meeting
The Israeli real-estate investment firm that has offered to invest $1.2 billion into Colorado Mills owner Mills Corp. has sued the company to force it to hold its annual meeting.
Gazit-Globe Ltd., which owns a 9.7 percent stake in Mills, also warned the company not to pursue a sale. Gazit-Globe said in a regulatory filing that it wants the meeting because Mills management has ignored its offer to invest in the company to stave off a sale.
BRIGHTON
Florida developer buys 10-acre parcel
Interface Properties Inc. of Boca Raton, Fla., has paid $4 million for a 10-acre parcel near Eighth Avenue and Bromley Lane in Brighton. The company plans to develop the parcel as retail space.
BROOMFIELD
Gaiam records higher net income in quarter
Broomfield-based Gaiam Inc. on Tuesday reported third-quarter net income of $1.7 million, 6 cents per share, up from $505,000, 3 cents per share, in the year-earlier quarter. The company had revenue of $51.8 million, compared with $30.1 million a year ago.
LITTLETON
Champps reduces net loss from year ago
Littleton-based Champps Entertainment Inc. reported a net loss of $42,000, less than a cent per share, for its fiscal first quarter. A year ago, the company had a net loss of $200,000, 2 cents per share. Total revenues for the quarter were down 4.3 percent to $49.3 million.
DENVER
United to fly nonstop to Huntsville, Ala.
United Airlines will start nonstop flights between Denver and Huntsville, Ala., on Feb. 14 on its United Express partner SkyWest, the carrier announced Wednesday.
The U.S. Army’s Redstone Arsenal, Cummings Research Park and NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville are drivers of business travel there.
DOUGLAS COUNTY
Liberty Global notes profit after unit sale
Liberty Global Inc., the largest owner of cable-television systems outside the U.S., reported a third-quarter profit of $445 million after the sale of a unit in France.
That compares with a loss of $127.9 million a year earlier, Douglas County-based Liberty Global said Wednesday in a regulatory filing. Sales rose 47 percent to $1.62 billion.
WASHINGTON
Lawmaker asks delay in BellSouth purchase
John Dingell, the Michigan Democrat who is expected to become chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, said Wednesday he wants the Federal Communications Commission to delay its vote on AT&T Inc.’s acquisition of BellSouth Corp.
Dingell, saying the combination raises a “significant antitrust question,” sent a letter to the FCC asking that it hold off on the vote until after the new Congress convenes in January.
SAN JOSE, Calif.
Cisco Systems profit rises 28 percent
Cisco Systems Inc., the world’s biggest maker of computer-networking equipment, said first-quarter profit increased 28 percent as customers bought more gear to provide faster Internet video.
Net income for the period ended Oct. 28 rose to $1.61 billion, 26 cents a share, from $1.26 billion, 20 cents a share, a year earlier, Cisco said in a statement. Sales rose 25 percent to $8.2 billion.
LOS ANGELES
Broad, Burkle submit bid for Tribune Co.
Billionaire businessman Eli Broad and supermarket magnate Ron Burkle have teamed up to submit a bid for the Tribune Co.
Details of the offer by the companies controlled by the two businessmen were not disclosed. A person familiar with the offer, who was not authorized to publicly discuss it, confirmed Wednesday the bid had been submitted.
DETROIT
GM raises prices, cites cost of materials
General Motors Corp. raised prices on about a third of its 2007 car and truck models in the U.S. because of rising material costs, undermining a strategy to lure buyers with reduced prices instead of rebates.
The increase took effect this week, GM spokesman John McDonald said. It ranges from $60 to $425 per vehicle.
PHILADELPHIA
Inquirer editor to quit as owner seeks cuts
The editor of the Philadelphia Inquirer, the city’s largest newspaper, will step down at the end of the year as the company’s new owners seek contract concessions, including deep newsroom cuts, in response to falling revenue.
Amanda Bennett will be replaced by Bill Marimow, a former Baltimore Sun editor and Inquirer city editor who is now ombudsman at National Public Radio, the paper announced.
