Twitter is dealing with more competition from companies like Instagram and Pinterest.
Photo: Justin Sullivan, Staff

Verizon selling wireless units

NEW YORK - Verizon Communications said it will make almost $15 billion from selling part of its wireline business and leasing thousands of wireless towers.

The largest U.S. cellphone carrier is selling its Texas, California and Florida wireline businesses, which serve telephone, TV and Internet customers, to Frontier Communications Corp. for $9.9 billion in cash. Frontier is also taking on $600 million in debt.

Verizon says it wantsto focus on the East Coast wireline business and will focus on expanding its FiOS broadband and high-speed Internet business in that region.

Twitter revenue up, but user growth slows

Twitter shares rose in extending trading as the messaging service shrank losses and nearly doubled quarterly revenue to surged to $479.1 million by drawing more users and expanding its advertising offerings.

Twitter's user growth continued to lag behind other social networks. It had 288 million monthly users at the end of the quarter, up 20 percent from a year earlier. But the pace of growth slowed in the fourth quarter, something the company attributed to changes in the way third-party apps integrate Twitter. For the final three months of 2014, it had losses of $125.4 million, down from a loss of |511.5 million a year earlier.

Federal reserve

Senators want details on leaks of bank data

WASHINGTON - Two Democratic lawmakers are asking the Federal Reserve for details on its reported probe of a leak of market-sensitive information about interest rates.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Rep. Elijah Cummings of Maryland requested the information Thursday. The Fed's investigation focuses on a 2012 leak of information on the closed-door internal deliberations of Fed policymakers, the lawmakers said in a letter. They cited several news reports in December. A Fed spokesman declined to comment.

DuPont's board choices may not please investor

DOVER, Del. - The DuPont Co. has named two new independent directors with experience in corporate turnarounds as it faces a proxy fight and breakup calls from investor Nelson Peltz.

But Thursday's nominations of Tyco International chairman Edward Breen and former LyondellBasell Industries CEO James Gallogly are not likely to appease Peltz. The two were not among a slate of four nominees proposed by Peltz's Trian Fund Management.

CEO Ellen Kullman said in a letter to Peltz that DuPont was willing to consider one of his nominees if he agreed to drop his slate and support the company's nominees.

As its losses rise, Sprint could sell some airwaves

Sprint Corp. said Thursday it is considering selling some wireless airwaves to help fund its turnaround efforts, at a time when other carriers are spending billions of dollars on spectrum.

Since Masayoshi Son's SoftBank bought the carrier in 2013, Sprint has sought a turnaround - one that has accelerated in recent months with job cuts and promotions to lure new subscribers. The sacrifice has been profits, with losses in four of the last five quarters.

Sprint's latest quarterly loss widened to $2.4 billion from a loss of $765 million a year earlier.

in other news

Mortgage company Freddie Mac said the U.S. average for a 30-year mortgage declined to 3.59 percent from 3.66 percent last week. The average 15-year loan eased to 2.92 percent from 2.98 percent.

Takata Corp., the air bag maker at the center of a defect scandal, is expecting more red ink for its fiscal year. It is projecting a $264 million loss. Its previous forecast was a $214 million loss.
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