Netflix raises $400M
Netflix raises $400M
SAN FRANCISCO
Netflix raised $400 million Monday as the video subscription service tries to recover from a customer backlash that has battered its stock and tarnished its brand.
The decision to issue more debt and stock may rattle some investors still worried about Netflix’s ability to recover from a crisis triggered by management’s July announcement that it was raising U.S. prices by as much as 60 percent.
Netflix shares initially fell sharply in Monday’s extended trading after the company disclosed its fundraising plan but then bounced back. The shares were down just 87 cents, or slightly more than 1 percent, to $73.60 late Monday.
The stock has fallen out of favor since hitting a high of nearly $305 in mid-July. That was around the same time Netflix Inc. announced it would be raising prices, so it could afford to pay movie and TV studios more money for the rights to stream video over high-speed Internet connections. The price increase took effect Sept. 1.
Ohio manufacturer to add 200 jobs
MASON, Ohio
A suburban Cincinnati-based company that makes conveyor and other automated systems says it will add 200 jobs over the next three years.
The Cincinnati Enquirer reports Intelligrated Inc. and Gov. John Kasich announced the plans Monday and that the state and the city of Mason are offering the company incentives worth $15 million.
The newspaper reports Ohio provided a $24 million incentive package in 2009 to triple the company’s size and to keep about 540 jobs and create about 270 at three Ohio plants.
Intelligrated, a privately held company based in Mason, estimated revenues at about $348 million last year.
It has 2,000 employees in several states, with 800 in Ohio. It also has operations in Canada and Mexico.
Airline fined for how it advertised $9 fares
LOS ANGELES
The U.S. Transportation Department has fined a Florida-based airline for advertising $9 airfares for its flights from Los Angeles without clearly disclosing the full price, including taxes and fees.
Spirit Airlines, which promotes itself as an ultra-low-cost carrier, was fined $50,000 Monday for violating federal aviation laws and Transportation Department rules that prohibit deceptive price advertising.
For a short time in June, Spirit launched an advertising campaign to promote Spirit’s five daily flights from Los Angeles to Las Vegas. The $9 fares were advertised on billboards on the back of trucks and on hand-held posters carried by workers throughout Los Angeles, according to an investigation by the federal agency.
An asterisk and small print on the billboards said additional taxes and fees would apply but did not clearly disclose the costs, as required under federal rules.
The hand-held posters, carried by workers trained to answer questions about the fares, did not include any information about extra fees and taxes, according to the Transportation Department.
From wire reports