Reported by Star-Bulletin staff & wire
Friday, October 17, 1997
Report: Insurers raising rates for some vehicles
NEW YORK -- Some big insurers plan to raise rates for sport utility vehicles and pickup truck owners after research showed they inflict unusually costly harm to cars and occupants in collisions, the New York Times reports.Farmers Insurance Group, a unit of B.A.T. Industries, and Progressive Corp. already have begun changing the way they calculate their rates, the newspaper said.
Executives at Allstate, Nationwide, Geico and USAA said they were reviewing the issue, the newspaper said. And it said industry leader State Farm was "actively hostile" to adjusting liability rates by model.
Nonetheless, the newspaper said the anticipated changes could mean a liability rate increase of up to 20 percent over several years.
McDonald's earnings up but below expectations
CHICAGO -- McDonald's Corp. today reported higher third-quarter earnings of $448.9 million, up 2 percent from $440.6 million a year ago, but missed analysts' earnings target with results that were hurt by a strong U.S. dollar.McDonald's earnings per share rose 3 percent on fewer shares outstanding to $0.64 a share, but below the First Call mean of analysts' earnings estimates of $0.67. Excluding the effect of the U.S. dollar on foreign currencies, McDonald's said its third-quarter earnings per share would have increased by 8 percent.
Goldman Sachs in Japan real estate sales pact
TOKYO -- U.S. investment bank Goldman Sachs and Japanese trust bank Yasuda Trust & Banking Co. said today they have agreed to cooperate in the real estate business in Japan.The pact between Yasuda Trust and a Japanese unit of Goldman Sachs comes as foreign investors are making a long-awaited return to the Japanese property market, which has regained some of its shine after the bursting of the late 1980s asset price bubble.
The deal is not exclusive.
Yasuda will provide Goldman clients, mostly American and European investors, with information on Japanese properties, focusing on commercial properties in the Tokyo area.