From staff and wire reports

Delta to meet with pilots, expand at JFK

Delta Air Lines and its pilots union today begin a formal negotiation session that could be the company's last chance to wring concessions out of its lone major union as it continues to struggle financially.

Representatives of management and Delta's branch of the Air Line Pilots Association meet today far apart, with the company asking for cuts up to 30 percent and the pilots last countering at 9 percent.

Delta, which employs about 8,500 pilots, including almost 900 at its hub at the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport, lost $773 million for 2003 and is expected to lose another $300 million to $350 million this quarter.

In other Delta news, the airline is pumping $300 million into an expansion of its service at New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport and, as a result, putting more competitive pressure on JetBlue Airways. JetBlue plans to expand its service at JFK.

The airline will add three flights between Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport and JFK as part of its expansion.

Aventis board rejects Sanofi's takeover bid

PARIS - French drug maker Aventis SA's board recommended Wednesday that shareholders reject an unsolicited $60 billion takeover bid from smaller rival Sanofi-Synthelabo SA and told management to study alternatives.

After a five-hour meeting, the Aventis board followed the management recommendation to reject the hostile 48 billion euro offer, saying it "was not in the best interests of the shareholders and employees."

Aventis chairman Jurgen Dormann had already brushed off Sanofi's takeover bid in a company statement issued shortly after the bid was launched Monday.

If successful, Sanofi's acquisition of Aventis would create the third biggest global drug firm by sales after U.S. giant Pfizer Inc. and British-based GlaxoSmithKline PLC.

Court approves KB Toys store closings

WILMINGTON, Del. - A bankruptcy judge Wednesday gave KB Toys Inc. permission to close up to 490 of its stores - including one locally at Hyde Park Plaza - as part of its Chapter 11 reorganization.

U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Joel Rosenthal also approved the selection of a joint venture that includes Ozer Group LLC, Nassi Group LLC and SB Capital Group Inc. to run inventory-liquidation sales at the stores being closed.

Liquidators will pay the retailer 45 percent of the retail dollar value of inventory in the stores and collect an agent's fee.

KB Toys, which is based in Pittsfield, Mass., may decide to keep up to 190 of the stores open, depending on whether landlords are willing to re-negotiate leases, according to court papers.

Amazon.com's shares down 6.8 percent

Shares of Amazon.com Inc., the world's biggest Internet retailer, fell 6.8 percent after lower prices on its international Web sites damped the company's fourth-quarter profit growth.

Shares of Seattle-based Amazon.com closed at $51.96, falling $3.78.

Sales grew at a faster pace in the company's less-profitable international business. Chief Executive Jeffrey Bezos lowered prices on products and expanded the amount of merchandise available by signing up vendors to sell through Amazon.com Web sites, leading to a surge in earnings and sales.

Fourth-quarter net income increased to $73.2 million, or 17 cents a share, from $2.65 million, or 1 cent, a year earlier. Revenue jumped 36 percent to $1.95 billion. It had full-year earnings of $35.3 million.

Time Warner returns to profit in 4th quarter

NEW YORK - Time Warner Inc., the world's largest media company, swung back to a profit in the fourth quarter of 2003 after reporting a $44.9 billion loss in the same period a year ago because of write-downs at its AOL unit, the company reported Wednesday.

Time Warner earned $638 million, or 14 cents a share, in the three months ending in December. The year-ago loss was equivalent to $10.04 per share. Excluding one-time items, adjusted earnings per share were 15 cents, even with the estimate of analysts surveyed by Thomson First Call.

Revenues rose 6 percent, more than some analysts had been expecting, to $10.9 billion from $10.25 billion a year earlier, led by gains in its movie unit and cable TV business.