IN BRIEF

Regulator suspends trust company’s license

A state regulator on Monday announced suspension of a the license of a trust company accused of making an illegal loan.

The Trust Company of the Pacific made a $1 million loan to the developer of a Mexican condominium project in violation of state law, the order issued by Steve Kondrup, acting commissioner of the Financial Institutions Division, said.

Kondrup also alleges in the order, issued Friday, that the Trust Company has a negative net worth of $1,753 and thus failed to satisfy the $300,000 minimum net worth required by law.

Attorney Michael Wall, who represents the trust company, said the regulatory action will let the company continue serving existing accounts and customers but will prevent the company from adding new customers.

“There hasn’t been any wrongdoing on the part of my client we don’t believe,” Wall said.

A lawsuit filed earlier by Albright Stoddard Warnick & Albright accuses the trust company of embezzling $1.4 million from a trust account held for the Oceanside Developments, a company developing a 48-unit condo project in Matzalán.

Preston Sterling Kerr, manager of the trust company and also an owner, previously denied that his firm did anything improper regarding the developer’s account. A call to Kerr on Monday was referred to his attorney.

CHARLOTTE, N.C.

Lowe’s earnings slip during first quarter

Profit at Lowe’s Cos. fell 12.1 percent in the first quarter, hurt by mixed weather and a continued housing slump hurt sales.

Lowe’s had net income of $739 million, or 48 cents a share, for the three months ended May 4, down from $841 million, or 53 cents a share, a year earlier.

Revenue rose 3.5 percent to $12.2 billion from $11.9 billion.

Same-store sales, or sales in stores open at least one year, fell 6.3 percent.

LITTLE ROCK, Ark.

Alltel’s chief says company will expand

Alltel Corp.’s chief executive says the wireless company will continue to pursue its strategy of growing in rural markets, even though it will be carrying a tremendous debt load to finance its $24.7 billion buyout by two private investment firms.

A day after Alltel announced that TPG Capital and GS Capital Partners would buy the company for $71.50 per share, Alltel CEO Scott Ford said Monday that the company will still be able to grow. He noted that it has nearly completed a $3 billion share repurchase program, has been paying regular dividends and has been spending on capital improvements.

The added debt service — estimated at $23 billion — won’t hinder the company when the other expenses are stripped away, Ford said. Alltel had about $2.7 billion in debt entering the transaction.

SAN FRANCISCO

Salesforce.com stock rises on speculation

Salesforce.com’s stock price climbed by more than 4 percent Monday in response to a report that the online software pioneer is poised to team with Internet search leader Google in a double-barreled attack on Microsoft Corp.

Although details are still being negotiated, the alliance would most likely involve blending Google mass-market applications like instant messaging, word processing and spreadsheets with Salesforce.com’s business programs for managing customer relationships, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Microsoft, the world’s largest software maker, competes in all those fields, making it logical for Mountain View-based Google and San Francisco-based Salesforce.com to draw on their respective strengths to thwart a common rival.

NEW YORK

Pfizer executive set to leave by year’s end

Pfizer Chief Executive Jeffrey Kindler proved even those at the top aren’t immune to a companywide transformation late Sunday in announcing the departure of Research and Development President John LaMattina and Chief Financial Officer Alan Levin.

The news comes as the world’s largest drug maker seeks to cut 10,000 jobs, or 10 percent of its work force, amid a tepid sales outlook in the near term. Kindler, the architect of the company’s transformation, became Pfizer’s CEO and chairman last year. The 10,000 job cuts were first announced in January.

Andy McCormick, a Pfizer spokesman, said the company is not disclosing how many jobs have already been cut.

LaMattina, 57, will retire from the company by the end of the year, Pfizer said. He has been with the company since 1977, and was tasked with keeping Pfizer’s product line vital as head of R&D.

WASHINGTON

Interest rates decline in Treasury auction

Interest rates on short-term Treasury bills rose in Monday’s auction with the rate on three-month bills reaching its highest level in three weeks.

The Treasury Department auctioned $15 billion in three-month bills at a discount rate of 4.775 percent, up from 4.73 percent last week, and $13 billion in six-month bills at a discount rate of 4.81 percent, up from 4.735 percent last week.

WASHINGTON

House votes to block industrial banks

The U.S. House of Representatives voted to block commercial firms and retailers such as Home Depot from opening their own banks.

The House on Monday passed legislation, 371-16, that would bar new so-called industrial banks owned by nonfinancial companies. The bill’s backers said it would close a loophole that allows commercial companies to operate banks without having to adhere to strict federal oversight aimed at preventing failures.

Gillmor and Representative Barney Frank, the Massachusetts Democrat who chairs the committee, introduced the legislation in January. The measure now goes to the Senate, which hasn’t yet held a hearing on the issue.

NEW YORK

Bond prices increase amid data dearth

U.S. Treasury bond prices ended on a positive note Monday, as the bond market inched its way back from Friday’s technically driven sell-off during a data-free session.

At 5 p.m. EDT, the 10-year Treasury note was up $1.56 per $1,000 in face value, or 0.16 points, from its level at 5 p.m. Friday. Its yield, which moves in the opposite direction, fell to 4.79 percent from 4.80 percent.

The 30-year bond rose 0.31 points. Its yield fell to 4.94 percent from 4.96 percent.