Business Brief: Whirlpool boosts appliance sales

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Whirlpool boosts appliance sales

Whirlpool Corp said on Friday that its quarterly operating profit rose as appliance sales increased in Europe and North America, offsetting currency and other headwinds in Latin America and Asia.

The world's largest maker of home appliances reported a first-quarter net profit of $160 million, or $2.02 per share, down from $252 million, or $3.12 a share, a year earlier. But excluding a tax credit last year and restructuring costs this year, Whirlpool said it had earned $2.20 a share, up from $1.97.

The company, which employs nearly 2,000 workes at its Maytag plant in Cleveland, Tenn., said overall company sales rose 4.7 percent to $4.4 billion.


Sixth bank closed in U.S.

Federal bank regulators shut down a small lender in South Carolina Friday, marking the sixth U.S. bank failure of 2014 after 24 closures last year.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. said Friday that it has taken Allendale County Bank, based in Fairfax, S.C. The lender, which operated five branches, had about $54.5 million in assets and $51 million in deposits as of Dec. 31.

Palmetto State Bank, based in Hampton, S.C., agreed to assume Allendale's deposits and to buy essentially all of the failed lender's assets.

U.S. bank failures have been declining since they peaked in 2010 in the wake of the financial crisis and the Great Recession.

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