Smithfield promises no Farmland layoffs

Smithfield Foods, which this week completed its purchase of the pork division of Kansas City, Mo.-based Farmland Industries, does not plan layoffs or plant closings, president Larry Pope said.

Pope met Wednesday with managers and workers at the pork processing plant in Wichita, Farmland Foods’ largest plant with about 550 employees. His Virginia-based company’s purchase of the pork unit was approved Tuesday by a federal bankruptcy judge in Kansas City, Mo.

“Forget the bankruptcy; that’s behind you,” Pope told managers of the Wichita plant. “You have a lot of opportunity here. We have no plans for layoffs. We are not closing any plants. You will continue to run your own company.”

Wall Street

Martha Stewart scandal produces quarterly loss

Martha Stewart’s multimedia company posted a third-quarter loss Thursday, dragged down by the stock trading scandal involving its founder and namesake.

The company reported a loss of $3.84 million, or 8 cents per share, for the three months ending Sept. 30. In the same period a year earlier, it reported a profit of $2.77 million, or 6 cents per share.

Wall Street analysts polled by Thomson First Call had expected a loss of 14 cents per share for Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia Inc., which produces magazines, TV programs and merchandise.

Oil

Exxon earnings fall short

Higher oil and gas prices helped lift third quarter profits at Exxon Mobil Corp. by 38 percent, but the oil giant still fell short of Wall Street’s expectations for the July-September period.

The world’s largest publicly traded oil company said it earned $3.65 billion or 55 cents per share in the third quarter.

The average forecast of analysts had been 62 cents per share, according to a survey by Thomson First Call.

Utility

Oneok results tumble

Oneok Inc. announced Thursday net income of $4.6 million, or 1 cent per diluted share of common stock for the third quarter.

That compared to year-ago earnings of 17 cents per share for the natural gas company, which operates in parts of Kansas.