BRIEFS.(Business)

ECONOMY

Consumer loans decline sharply

Consumer borrowing fell in September by the largest amount since the recession of the early 1990s, weakened by a huge drop in auto loans.

The Federal Reserve reported Tuesday that consumer borrowing declined at an annual rate of 0.6 percent in September, compared with a 4.6 percent rate of increase in August. Borrowing fell by $1.2 billion in September - the biggest drop since a $1.78 billion decrease in April 1992.

It was the first decline since March, when borrowing marked a far milder decrease of 0.24 percent.

NATIONAL

FedEx cancels order for 10 Airbus A380 jets

FedEx Corp. canceled its order for 10 Airbus A380 jets on Tuesday, the first customer to retract an order for the new jumbo double-decker plane that has been dogged by numerous delays.

The world's largest express transportation company cited Airbus' production delays and said in a statement that its FedEx Express unit has ordered 15 Boeing Co. 777 freighters with a list price of $3.5 billion and taken options on an additional 15.

LOCAL

Frontier cuts 50 jobs; many are part time

Frontier Airlines this week cut 50 revenue accounting jobs, most of them part-time positions.

The carrier said it has decided to outsource most of the work, which involves tracking revenues related to ticket sales. The move will result in "significant" savings over the next few years, said Frontier spokesman Joe Hodas.

Seventeen of the affected jobs were full-time positions; the remaining were part-timers who typically worked fewer than 10 hours a week from home. Frontier told the workers Monday, and the cuts will take place over the next couple of months.

Wild Oats sales rise 4.8% in third quarter

Boulder-based Wild Oats Markets Inc., a natural and organic foods retailer, said sales in its third quarter increased 4.8 percent, to $291.8 million, over the year-ago period.

Net income was 10 cents per diluted share vs. break-even in the third quarter of 2005.

Adjusted EBITDA was up 43.4 percent to $11.9 million, or 4.1 percent of sales, from $8.3 million, or 3 percent of sales, last year.

SBA seeks nominees for Colorado awards

The Small Business Administration is accepting nominations for its 2007 Colorado Small Business Week Awards. This includes nominations for the Small Business Person of the Year award.

Colorado's Small Business Person of the Year award winner will compete for national honors at ceremonies in Washington, D.C., in the spring.

Deadline for all nominations is Nov. 24. For a copy of the nomination criteria, contact Christopher Chavez, SBA's public affairs director, at 303-844-0501, or e-mail him at christopher.chavez@sba.gov.

Etc.

Broomfield-based Level 3 Communications announced a multiyear agreement with Photobucket to support the company's growing online photo sharing with high-speed Internet services. Terms were not disclosed. . . . The Northern Colorado Economic Development Corp. has named Larry Edward Penley, president of Colorado State University, the recipient of its first Regional Economic Development Excellence Award. . . . Douglas County-based Time Warner Telecom posted 10 percent revenue growth in its third quarter ended Sept. 30, buoyed by data and Internet services. Revenues increased from $177.9 million, to $196.1 million, but the business communications provider reported a net loss of $11.3 million for the quarter. . . . Qwest Communications announced it has extended a two-year, $1.2 million voice and data networking agreement with Baton Rouge, La.-based Lamar Advertising Co. Lamar will be able to transfer large amounts of data between nearly 200 office locations. . . . PepsiCo Inc. said Tuesday it will boost prices on Tropicana and Dole orange juice by 4 percent to 8 percent at the start of 2007, further fallout from what's expected to be the worst Florida citrus crop in more than a decade . . . A federal appeals court has upheld a judge's ruling to vacate the conviction of Enron Corp.'s late founder, Ken Lay, who had been found guilty earlier this year of committing fraud and conspiracy. The challenge to the ruling by U.S. District Judge Sim Lake came from Russell Butler, an Enron shareholder who lost $8,000 in the company's collapse.

CAPTION(S):

Photo

Larry Edward Penley