Financial/Banking

MATTHEWS, N.C. — Harris Teeter on Wednesday confirmed an earlier Wall Street Journal report that the grocer was in the process of exploring strategic options. 

New York -- The Jones Group Inc. reported a loss of $80.3 million for the three months through Dec. 31, compared with a loss of $21.1 million a year earlier. The company said that marking down the value of some assets widened its loss.
 
Revenue for the fourth quarter rose 8.8% to $971.9 million, better than the $955.3 million Wall Street was expecting.

For the year, Jones Group lost $56.1 million, versus a profit of $50.7 million in 2011. Annual revenue rose to $3.8 billion from $3.79 billion.

MATTHEWS, N.C. — Carolina retailer Harris Teeter may be exploring a sale, the Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday evening. 

According to the report, Harris Teeter is being advised by JP Morgan. WSJ tabulated Harris Teeter's market value at $1.8 billion for its 200 supermarkets. 

New York -- J. C. Penney Co boosted its borrowing capacity under a bank credit facility by $100 million to $1.85 billion and expanded an option to borrow more at a later date.  

"As we enter the second year of our transformation, today's announcement reflects the confidence of our banking group in our long-term strategy and further strengthens our liquidity position as we continue to execute our plan," J.C. Penny CFO Ken Hannah said in a statement.

BROOKFIELD, Wis. — Fiserv, a global provider of financial services technology solutions, has partnered with Alliance Data Retail Services, a provider of branded credit card programs, to offer e-bill distribution to cardholders of its more than 100 credit programs. This service is designed to provide consumers with increased control over bill payments, as well as the added convenience of viewing and paying bills electronically via 3,800 financial institutions that are part of the Fiserv bill payment network.

Stamford, Conn. -- GE Capital Retail Bank, a consumer lending unit of General Electric Company (GE), has renewed its private label credit card program with J.C. Penney Co.

The JCP consumer card program provides credit to millions of consumers who shop at more than 1,100 J.C. Penney stores in communities across the United States and Puerto Rico, as well as online at JCP.com.

STAMFORD, Conn. -- GE Capital Retail Bank, a consumer lending unit of General Electric Company (GE), has renewed its private label credit card program with JCPenney.

The JCP consumer card program provides credit to millions of consumers who shop at more than 1,100 JCPenney stores in communities across the United States and Puerto Rico, as well as online at JCP.com. 

NAPERVILLE, Ill. -- OfficeMax has received approximately $129 million in cash proceeds related to its October 2004 investment in Boise Cascade Holdings, L.L.C.  Since 2004, OfficeMax has held two classes of securities in BCH, non-voting equity securities ("Series A Units") and voting equity securities ("Series B Units").