Feds find crashes, injuries in BMW probe

DETROIT – U.S. safety regulators have found 16 crashes and five injuries in an eight-month investigation of transmission control problems with BMW 7-Series luxury cars.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration began the probe in August and has now upgraded it to an engineering analysis, which is a step closer to a recall. However the cars have not been recalled.

The investigation covers nearly 122,000 BMWs from the 2002 through 2008 model years.

The cars have push-button start and electronic transmission controls. In some cases the owners may think the cars are in park when they actually are in neutral.

Citigroup reports $2.9 billion quarter

NEW YORK – Citigroup, which has 4,600 branches in 40 countries, boasts that it is the most global American bank. That reach paid off big time in the first three months of the year.

Citigroup pulled in record revenue from processing transactions for its international corporate clients, and its loans to customers in Asia and Latin America grew.

The bank said Monday that it made $2.9 billion in the first three months of the year, or 95 cents per share, which includes a $1.3 billion accounting charge that Citi took because the value of its debt increased.

Without that charge, its earnings per share would be $1.11, which beat estimates of $1.01 among analysts surveyed by FactSet.

Barbie sales slump hurts Mattel’s profits

NEW YORK – Mattel Inc. said Monday that its first-quarter profit dropped 53 percent, pulled down by costs tied to an acquisition and lower sales for Barbie and Hot Wheels.

Results for the largest U.S. toy maker were below expectations and its shares fell more than 9 percent in trading. But the disappointing results came during what is typically a slow time for toy sales, so Mattel executives say they remain optimistic.

During the period, cautious reordering by retailers coupled with the timing related to shipping “Cars 2”-related toys last year, hurt results. That was particularly true in North America, where revenue slid 9 percent.

Wal-Mart CEO’s pay down 3 percent in 2011

NEW YORK – Mike Duke, the CEO of Wal-Mart Stores Inc., received a pay package in 2011 worth $18.1 million, a 3 percent dip from the year before, according to an Associated Press calculation, mainly because his performance-based cash bonus shrank.

The dip in compensation came even as Wal-Mart reversed a more than two-year sales slump.