Interstate Bakeries delays reports

Interstate Bakeries Corp. is giving itself more time to file more than a year’s worth of delayed quarterly and annual reports of its finances.

In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the bankrupt maker of Hostess Twinkies and Wonder Bread said Friday it had reached an agreement with its lenders allowing the company to wait until Dec. 31 to file the delinquent reports.

Kansas City, Mo.-based Interstate Bakeries, blaming problems with its accounting system and an ongoing SEC investigation into the company’s workers’ compensation reserve, hasn’t filed a quarterly or annual report on its finances since April 2004.

Advice

Avoiding surprises important at work

A pleasant surprise from a friend or loved one is to be cherished, but a surprise at work usually means bad news.

Spring one too many surprises on bosses or co-workers and your career can quickly careen into a tailspin, warns Annie Stevens, a managing partner at ClearRock, a Boston-based executive coaching and outplacement firm.

A few problems to be avoided: over-promising, missing deadlines, cost overruns, failing to explain to a new employee the true nature of the position, and not telling employees when someone new is hired.

“There are bound to be unexpected developments in business that are beyond your control, and people realize that,” Stevens said. “But the worst kind of surprises that managers and executives can make concern circumstances within their control that they intentionally or unintentionally spring on people.”

Airlines

Frontier loss climbs

Frontier Airlines lost $23.4 million during the last fiscal year as it struggles with low fares and high fuel costs.

The loss for the fiscal year ending March 31 amounted to a loss of 66 cents a share on revenue of $834 million. The Denver-based discount carrier posted a $12.6 million profit in the previous fiscal year on revenue of $644 million.

The loss for this year’s fourth quarter alone was $3.7 million, or 10 cents a share, on revenue of $219 million. That’s down from a loss of $5.8 million during the same period last year on revenue of $172 million.

Economy

Personal incomes up

Personal incomes rose in April at the fastest pace in five months, helped by a big jump in employment, the government reported Friday. The Commerce Department said incomes rose by 0.7 percent last month, the best performance this year. Analysts said it reflected a gain of 274,000 jobs last month and a rise in the workweek, which both boosted private wage growth.