Facebook will face new profit pressures
SAN FRANCISCO » For all the huge numbers in Facebook’s IPO papers, a surprisingly small figure stands out: $4.39, the amount the site generated per user last year.
It’s one of the company’s major challenges because the total is paltry compared with competing Internet companies. Google makes more than $30 a year from each registered user. Even struggling Yahoo and AOL make $7 and $10, respectively.
Once Facebook goes public, Wall Street will surely demand more. That means the social network almost certainly will have to attract a lot more users or be more aggressive with its advertising, perhaps by mining personal data even more than it does now.
EU official: Greece needs extra $20 billion
BRUSSELS » Greece needs about an extra $20 billion to get its debt down to manageable levels — and the rest of 17-country eurozone is being asked to help foot the bill.
Debt-ridden Greece is close to a deal with private investors to reduce its debt burden by about $131 billion, and that — plus an agreement to enact deep spending cuts — could pave the way for a $171 billion bailout from its European partners and the International Monetary Fund. But on Thursday a European Union official said this plan was not enough to help fix Greece’s problems, which are getting worse as the effects of the recession take hold.
In order to bring Greece’s debt burden to a sustainable level — 120 percent of its economic output in eight years’ time — the country’s international debt inspectors calculate that Greece needs an additional $20 billion — a shortfall it believes should be made up by the rest of the 17-country eurozone, the European official. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter.
Ex-MF Global official warned Corzine
WASHINGTON » A former executive at the collapsed brokerage MF Global testified Thursday that he warned then-CEO Jon Corzine a year before the company went under about the risks of making large bets on European government debt.
Michael Roseman, who was chief risk officer for the company, told a House oversight subcommittee that he raised the concern in October 2010, as the company’s bets on European debt approached $4 billion.
Roseman said Corzine, a former governor of New Jersey, "allowed me to express my opinion in the board meetings. … Within the room there were certainly differences of opinion."
At another point in the hearing, Roseman said his analysis of the risks that the company was taking was "challenged as being implausible." He did not specify who challenged it.
Worker productivity growth slows
WASHINGTON » Workers were more efficient in the final three months of last year, although their gains in productivity slowed from the previous quarter. Slower productivity growth can be a good sign for hiring if economic growth picks up.
The Labor Department said Thursday that worker productivity rose at a 0.7 percent annual rate in the October-December quarter. That’s below a downwardly revised 1.9 percent in the previous quarter.
Labor costs rose 1.2 percent in the final three months of last year as wages and salaries grew at a faster pace than productivity. Still, inflation-adjusted wages fell 1.2 percent in all of 2011, the steepest annual drop since 1989.
Sales mixed for retailers for January
NEW YORK » Americans were shopping in January, but not every store was feeling the love.
Retailers reported mixed sales results for the month in a sign that U.S. consumers continue to be cautious about when and where they spend their money in the shaky economy. Overall, merchants on Thursday reported a 4.8 percent increase for January, according to the International Council of Shopping Center’s tally of 20 retailers. That’s above the 3 percent gain that ICSC had expected.
Fewer seeking unemployment aid
WASHINGTON » The number of people seeking unemployment benefits fell last week to a level that signaled a steadily improving job market. The figures came one day before the government is expected to report that January marked another solid month for hiring.
Unemployment applications fell 12,000 to a seasonally adjusted 367,000, the Labor Department said Thursday. The four-week average, a less volatile measure, dropped for the third straight week to 375,750.
ON THE MOVE
» Prince Resorts Hawaii has announced that Lee Kim has been appointed Asia Pacific sales manager for all Prince Resorts Hawaii properties, which includes Hawaii Prince Hotel Waikiki, the Mauna Kea Beach Hotel and Hapuna Beach Prince Hotel. She has worked for Prince Resorts Hawaii for 13 years as well as for All Nippon Airways in Seoul and the Hawaiian Regent Hotel.
» Aloha Pacific Federal Credit Union has promoted Shanese Kaneshiro to manager of its Kaimuki branch from assistant branch manager of the Waimalu branch. She joined the credit union in 2001 as a concierge. In 2007 Kaneshiro was named employee of the year.
» Ke Ali‘i Pauahi Foundation has announced its board of directors: Janeen-Ann Ahulani Olds, Lance Wilhelm, Dee Jay Mailer, Lee Ann DeLima, Caroline Peters Belsom, C. Manu Ka‘iama and William "Billy" Pieper II.