AT&T (NYSE:T), seeking government approval for its $39 billion acquisition of T-Mobile USA Inc., pledged to bring 5,000 call-center jobs back to the U.S. from other countries once the deal closes. The company, which would become the nation’s biggest mobile-phone carrier after the acquisition, said today in a statement that it wouldn’t cut any U.S. wireless call-center jobs as a result of the purchase. The jobs plan doesn’t change Dallas-based AT&T’s forecasts for savings from the deal, it said. -Bloomberg
China Construction Bank Corp. said Wednesday Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) sold 13.1 billion shares in the Chinese lender at HK$4.94 each. Over a third, or 4.93 billion CCB shares, was bought by overseas funds, the bank said in a statement. The remaining 8.15 billion shares were bought by institutional investors, CCB said, without giving further details. Bank of America has no plans to further reduce or increase stake in the Chinese bank over next 12 months, CCB said. -MarketWatch
Sysco (NYSE:SYY) may distribute food products to thousands of customers, but it hasn’t been able to rake up profit growth. The company’s fourth-quarter bottom line remained flat in spite of a marginal increase in its revenues. But after falling some 20% from recent levels, does the stock now look like one that could suit your palate? Sysco’s revenues grew 0.7% from the year-ago quarter to $10.4 billion this quarter. This year’s quarter was one week shorter than last year’s, affecting comparability. With a major chunk of the company’s sales coming from restaurants, an uptick in the overall restaurant activity seems to be the driver behind the top line growth. Many restaurant chains have reported higher sales recently. Food cost inflation, however, ate into the food-service distributor’s revenues. As a result, Sysco’s gross margin declined from 19.2% to 18.6% year-on-year, while net profits slipped 0.4% to $336.3 million. Apart from a solid balance sheet, Sysco has other things going for it. Like the food companies that have passed on higher costs to consumers, Sysco too raised prices early this year. This could be one tactic that Sysco will consider using again in order to bolster margins, should food costs continue to rise. -Daily Finance
Jos. A. Bank Clothiers (NASDAQ:JOSB) the Hampstead, Md., retailer, reported fiscal second-quarter net income rose 25% on 22% higher sales and 14.7% higher same-store sales. For the quarter ended July 31, the chain earned $20.6 million, or 74 cents a share, compared with $16.5 million, or 59 cents, in the year-earlier period. Sales reached $230.7 million from $188.4 million. A survey of analysts by FactSet Research produced consensus estimates of 67 cents a share of profit on $208.5 million of sales. August same-store sales are up slightly from the year-earlier period despite the effect of the recent hurricane, President and Chief Executive R. Neal Black said in a Wednesday statement. -MarketWatch
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