Photography

Kodak to slash 1,700 jobs

Photography icon Eastman Kodak Co. said Thursday that it would cut as many as 1,700 jobs up to 2.3 percent of its global payroll as it struggles to rebound from a two-year slump in film sales blamed largely on a downturn in the U.S. economy.

The world’s largest photography company cut 7,000 jobs last year, shrinking its work force to 75,000 people.

“These actions are required in a world that is increasingly competitive and economically uncertain,” said chief executive Daniel Carp.

The new cuts were announced as Kodak posted sharply higher third-quarter earnings of $334 million, or $1.15 a share, up from $96 million, or 33 cents a share, a year ago.

Earnings

Tyco posts losses of more than $1.7 billion

Tyco International Ltd. said Thursday that it lost $1.75 billion in the fourth quarter as it took big charges for restructuring and the reduced value of assets.

The company, which has been struggling with corruption allegations, also said it plans to restate its earnings for the first three quarters of its fiscal year, revising them downward, after an accounting review.

The loss for the three months ended Sept. 30 amounted to 88 cents a share and contrasted with a profit of $1.38 billion, or 70 cents per share, for the same quarter a year earlier.

In the past year, the company announced but then scrapped a plan to break into parts, and several former top executives were indicted on corruption charges. The company is under investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission and federal prosecutors in New York.

Chief financial officer David Fitzpatrick said Tyco’s reported earnings for the first three quarters of the year would be reduced by $135 million based on an accounting review.

University

KU researchers awarded grants from KC group

Three Kansas University researchers were awarded grants by the Kansas City Area Life Sciences Institute on Thursday.

Brian Petroff, a professor in the department of molecular integrative physiology at KU Medical Center was awarded a $25,000 grant. Margaret Greene Petroff, a professor in the department of anatomy and cell biology at KUMC, received a $24,706 grant. George Wilson, a professor in the department of chemistry and pharmaceutical chemistry at KU was awarded a $25,000 grant.

All grants are for one year. The institute awarded about $200,000 to eight researchers in the Kansas City area.

Wall Street

Earnings of interest

Several companies of area interest recently announced quarterly earnings. SBC Communications, parent company of Southwestern Bell, posted earnings of 53 cents per share, down from 61 cents a share a year earlier.

Commercial Federal, which operates a bank in Lawrence, announced earnings of 58 cents versus 48 cents during the same period a year ago.

Overland Park-based Waddell & Reed Financial Inc., which operates an office in Lawrence, posted earnings of 25 cents per share, which was unchanged from a year ago.

Union Pacific Corp., which operates a railroad in Lawrence, posted earnings of $1.63 per share, up from $1.04 a year earlier.