Earnings reports

Copyright 2001 Houston Chronicle News Services

Published 6:30 am, Thursday, November 8, 2001

· The world's two largest insurance brokers, Marsh & McLennan Cos. and Aon Corp., which lost hundreds of employees in the destruction of the World Trade Center, reported sharply lower profits Wednesday as the costs of the attack dragged down an already difficult quarter.

Marsh, the world's largest insurance broker, lost 295 employees in the attack. It said third-quarter profits fell 40 percent as it paid out $173 million in attack-related costs.

Chicago-based Aon, the world's No. 2 insurance broker, lost 176 employees in its offices on the highest floors in the World Trade Center's south tower. It said third-quarter profits fell 48 percent as it paid out $53 million on employees' life insurance benefits and other costs.

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· JetBlue Airways, tiny and privately held but causing headaches for rivals, posted a third-quarter profit Wednesday even before cash received from the government's bailout of the airline industry after Sept. 11.

The low-cost carrier began service in the competitive Northeast-to-Florida market 21 months ago. It operates 84 daily flights and charges one-way fares only. Third-quarter net income was $10.5 million, and operating income was $11.3 million, on revenues of $82.6 million, JetBlue said.

· PepsiCo, the second-largest soft-drink maker, still expects to meet profit estimates this year as the company introduces new Frito-Lay snack foods and completes the integration of Quaker Oats Co. Earnings this year will be $1.66 a share, President and CEO Indra Nooyi said. That matches the average estimate of analysts polled by Thomson Financial/First Call.

· News Corp. Chairman Rupert Murdoch spent more than a year trying to buy the biggest U.S. satellite-television broadcaster, hoping to create a pay-TV business that would span five continents.

He lost the bidding for DirecTV parent Hughes Electronics Corp. last month.