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After taking a dip in September, area home sales came back strongly in October, compared with the same month a year ago.
Real estate agents who participate in the Fort Wayne Area Multiple Listing Service Inc. reported 379 homes sold this October, a 10.5 percent gain over the 343 sold in October 2008. In September, 373 homes were reported sold, an 11 percent decrease from 419 sold in September 2008.
The Fort Wayne Area Multiple Listing Service data might not include all real estate activity in the market. The area includes Allen, Whitley, Huntington, Adams, Wells, DeKalb and Noble counties.
The Home Builders Association of Fort Wayne is unable to provide building permit data while it waits for local officials to update a computer system that collects the information, said Maurine Holle, the association’s executive director.
Auto parts supplier Lear Corp., which emerged from bankruptcy protection two days ago, said Wednesday it expects sales this year will total $9.5 billion, well below last year’s.
Southfield, Mich.-based Lear reported 2008 sales of $13.57 billion. The company, which filed for bankruptcy protection July 7 and exited Chapter 11 on Monday, issued the forecast in a conference call.
Lear’s four months under court protection enabled it to cut debt by about $2.8 billion, to $1 billion or less, with no near-term maturities. The restructuring also left the company, which supplies seats and electrical components for cars and trucks, with more than $1 billion in cash.
Utah has agreed to a $24 million settlement with Eli Lilly & Co. over claims the drugmaker engaged in off-label marketing of the anti-psychotic drug Zyprexa, Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff said Wednesday.
Zyprexa is approved for the treatment of schizophrenia and certain types of bipolar disorder, Shurtleff said.
But he said the company’s sales force illegally promoted Zyprexa for uses not approved by the Food and Drug Administration such as dementia, Alzheimer’s, agitation and depression.
Lilly said the company admits no wrongdoing in connection with the Utah settlement.
Macy’s Inc.’s third-quarter loss shrunk as tight inventory controls and a move to localize merchandise at its department stores by region paid off. The company also raised its full-year profit and sales outlook.
The department store operator said Wednesday that it lost $35 million, or 8 cents per share, in the quarter ended Oct. 31. That compares with $44 million, or 10 cents per share, in the year-ago period.
Hewlett-Packard Co., looking to expand into a business long dominated by Cisco, said Wednesday it has agreed to buy networking software and equipment maker 3Com Corp. in a deal the companies valued at $2.7 billion.
HP also issued a preliminary report Wednesday for the three months that ended in October, saying it earned 99 cents per share, compared with 84 cents in the year-ago period.
