GE details new structure of power business

INDUSTRY

GE details new structure of power business

One of new General Electric CEO Larry Culp’s first big decisions after starting the job last month was to restructure the Boston-based company’s troubled power business, splitting it into two divisions that report directly to Culp and eliminating the old power headquarters structure. Today, GE offered more details of what that structure would look like. Former GE vice chairman John Rice will come out of retirement to be chairman of the newly formed GE Gas Power business, which focuses on GE’s natural gas-fired turbines. Scott Strazik, currently president of Power Services, will become CEO of GE Gas Power. Meanwhile, the current CEO of GE Power, Russell Stokes, will be CEO of what’s being called the GE Power Portfolio, which includes other business lines such as steam, nuclear, and power conversion. — JON CHESTO

FOOD

Thanksgiving dinner to be a bit cheaper this year

For the third straight year, your Thanksgiving feast will be a bit cheaper. The average cost for 10 people is $48.90, or less than $5 per person, marking a 22-cent drop from a year ago and the lowest since 2010. Aside from less expensive turkeys, declines in a gallon of milk, a 3-pound bag of sweet potatoes, a 1-pound bag of green peas, and a dozen rolls are helping ease the burden on consumer wallets, according to the American Farm Bureau Federation’s 33rd annual survey. After adjusting for inflation, the cost of the holiday meal is $19.37, the lowest since 2006. — BLOOMBERG NEWS

RETAIL

David’s Bridal files for bankruptcy

David’s Bridal Inc. filed for bankruptcy with a plan to cut debt by more than $400 million and a deal with lenders that will keep stores open during a reorganization. The Chapter 11 filing in US Bankruptcy Court in Delaware on Monday listed liabilities of more than $500 million and assets of more than $100 million. The court-supervised restructuring allows the business to keep operating, and thus avoid the calamitous impact on brides that often accompanies the collapse of wedding retailers. David’s signed a restructuring support agreement with its main stakeholders before going to court that could speed the company through bankruptcy in a matter of weeks, and it doesn’t expect major store closures or liquidations. The company had more than 300 outlets in the United States, Canada, Britain, and franchise locations in Mexico as of mid-year. — BLOOMBERG NEWS

INTERNATIONAL

Euro countries to consider budget proposed by France and Germany

A top eurozone finance official said the 19 countries that use the euro will push ahead with discussions on a eurozone budget proposed by France and Germany to make the currency union more resistant to crises. Mario Centeno, president of the eurozone finance ministers’ group, said that ministers had a ‘‘very good discussion’’ of the proposal at their meeting Monday in Brussels and that ‘‘the topic will remain on our agenda.’’ French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said that ‘‘everyone is aware of the necessity of reinforcing the eurozone.’’ A separate budget could help countries in difficulty stabilize their economies. Le Maire said that even though discussions were of small amounts, of 20-25 billion euros ($23 billion-$29 billion), ‘‘you need a starting point and a framework.’’ — ASSOCIATED PRESS

BANKING

Societe Generale
to pay $1.34b to settle sanctions case

Societe Generale SA settled its longstanding sanctions violations case with US authorities, entering a deferred prosecution agreement with federal prosecutors and paying $1.34 billion to regulators in New York and Washington. As part of the settlement announced on Monday, France’s third-largest bank acknowledged violations of US sanctions laws against Cuba, Iran, and Sudan starting as far back as 2003 and extending to 2013. The bank agreed to pay $1.34 billion in all to settle the matter, the US Federal Reserve said in a statement. In addition to paying $717 million to the US Justice Department, the bank will pay $420 million to New York’s Department of Financial Services, $163 million to the Manhattan district attorney’s office, $81 million to the US Federal Reserve, and $54 million to the US Treasury. — BLOOMBERG NEWS

HOME CONSTRUCTION

Builders losing confidence as housing market cools

Confidence among US homebuilders plummeted by the most since 2014 as the highest borrowing costs in eight years restrain demand, adding to signs of a cooling housing market that will weigh on the Federal Reserve’s debate over how far to raise interest rates. The National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index dropped eight points in November to 60, the lowest level since August 2016, according to a report Monday. That compared with the median estimate of economists for a one-point drop to 67. — BLOOMBERG NEWS

SHORT-TERM RENTALS

Airbnb to remove listings for Israeli settlements
in West Bank

Vacation rental company Airbnb said it is removing its listings in Israeli settlements in the West Bank. The company said Monday it will take down some 200 listings in Israeli settlements ‘‘that are at the core of the dispute between the Israelis and Palestinians.’’ Airbnb said that although it had been operating in accordance with US law, it long wrestled with the question of whether to do business in Israeli settlements, which most of the international community views as illegal. Palestinians and human rights groups have long urged the company to remove the listings. Airbnb said it would cease its operations in the occupied territory in hopes that ‘‘a framework is put in place where the entire global community is aligned.’’ Israeli officials condemned the decision. — ASSOCIATED PRESS

ENTERTAINMENT

Disney gets approval from Chinese authorities for Fox deal

Walt Disney Co. said Monday it won unconditional approval from Chinese authorities for its $71 billion purchase of assets from 21st Century Fox Inc. The ruling removes one of the last major hurdles for the deal, which unites the entertainment assets of Rupert Murdoch’s empire with Disney. The Burbank, Calif.-based entertainment giant has already obtained approval from regulators in the United States and the European Union, though both required divestitures that the company has agreed to make. There had been some concern in the investment community that China’s approval of the deal might not come easily, given the ongoing disputes over trade and tariffs between the country and the Trump administration. Disney continues to invest heavily in China, including in theme parks in Shanghai and Hong Kong. — BLOOMBERG NEWS

INTERNATIONAL

Drivers continue
to protest fuel tax hikes in France

Citizen protests of fuel tax hikes are choking facilities critical to the French economy, and police have orders to remove the drivers blocking sensitive sites to show their anger, France’s interior minister said Monday. In a third day of actions, grass-roots protesters blocked oil depots with their vehicles and disrupted English Channel traffic in a bid to keep up pressure on President Emmanuel Macron’s government. Interior Minister Christophe Castaner said the demonstrations around France had grown smaller while yielding ‘‘a multiplication of violent acts, racist acts, anti-Semitic acts, and vandalism’’ since Sunday. Scattered road blockades have continued around France since mass protests of the tax increases Saturday left one protester dead. An injured motorcyclist was between life and death, Castaner said. Since the main protests on Saturday, 528 people have been injured — 17 seriously, the minister said. The figure did not include 92 police officers who were injured, two of them seriously. He said that 27,000 protesters blocking strategic traffic zones were active on Monday, far fewer than the nearly 300,000 counted Saturday. — ASSOCIATED PRESS

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