The New York Times-20080126-Today in Business- -Business-Financial Desk-

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Today in Business; [Business/Financial Desk]

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COUNTRYWIDE SUIT WIDENSGoldman Sachs and 25 other underwriters of Countrywide Financial, the biggest American mortgage lender, were named as defendants in a suit by New York State and city officials, who claim they made misleading statements about Countrywide's prospects.

New York City's comptroller, William C. Thompson Jr., and Thomas P. DiNapoli, his state counterpart, added the 26 securities firms, 2 accounting companies and additional Countrywide officers and directors as plaintiffs in an investor securities-fraud lawsuit filed last year in federal court, Mr. Thompson's office announced. (BLOOMBERG NEWS)

HONEYWELL PROFIT RISES Honeywell International reported a 17.8 percent rise in fourth-quarter profit while recording growth in all four of its business segments. The company, based in Morris Township, N.J., said it earned $689 million, or 91 cents a share, for the three months that ended Dec. 31, up from $585 million, or 72 cents a share, a year earlier.

Fourth-quarter sales gained 12.1 percent, to $9.28 billion, from $8.28 billion in the same period a year ago. The analysts had projected sales of $8.94 billion. (AP)

STOCK AWARD AT CITIGROUP Citigroup, which posted a record loss last week, gave its new chief executive, Vikram S. Pandit, $26.7 million in stock and said its executive committee chairman, Robert E. Rubin, elected to forgo a stock bonus.

Mr. Pandit, above, who took over in December for the ousted Charles O. Prince III, got 1.09 million shares on Jan. 22, Citigroup said in a regulatory filing. Mr. Pandit will receive no cash bonus, a company spokesman, Michael Hanretta, said. Citigroup said last week it would cut about 4,200 jobs and curb year-end bonuses for top executives after $18.1 billion in write-downs on subprime mortgages and bonds led to a fourth-quarter loss.

(BLOOMBERG NEWS)

HARLEY SALES DROP Harley-Davidson reported slowing sales in the United States, sending its profit down 26.3 percent in the fourth quarter. American sales dropped 14.2 percent in the quarter, the company said Friday, outpacing a 9 percent fall in the domestic market for heavyweight motorcycles.

Harley said its profit for the quarter ended Dec. 31 totaled $186.1 million, or 78 cents a share, compared with a profit of $252.4 million, or 97 cents a share, a year ago. Revenue dropped 7.7 percent to $1.39 billion, from $1.50 billion, in the period. The company said it expected moderate growth in both earnings per share and revenue this year. (AP)

HARTFORD SHARES PLUNGE The Hartford Financial Services Group fell the most in five years in New York Stock Exchange trading after fourth-quarter profit disappointed analysts.

Hartford dropped 5.9 percent, to $75.13, after slipping as low as $74.75, the biggest decline since October 2002. Profit excluding investment losses was $2.66 a share, compared with the average $2.50 estimate of 18 analysts compiled by Bloomberg, the company said. (BLOOMBERG NEWS)

EX-WAL-MART OFFICIAL SPARED Thomas M. Coughlin, the former Wal-Mart executive whose home-detention sentence for stealing from the company was overturned as too lenient, will not be forced to get an independent medical exam before his resentencing next week.

Judge Robert Dawson of Federal District Court rejected federal prosecutors' request to order the exam. Judge Dawson originally sentenced Mr. Coughlin to 27 months of home detention after defense lawyers argued that his fragile health would make a prison sentence too dangerous. (BLOOMBERG NEWS) INFLATION EASES IN CANADA Despite large increases in energy prices and mortgage costs, Canada's rate of inflation fell to 2.4 percent in December from 2.5 percent the previous month, Statistics Canada said. Much of the decline stemmed from price reductions apparently related to the high value of the Canadian dollar.

Sales promotions from auto manufacturers, intended to discourage Canadians from bargain hunting in the United States, translated into a 4.1 percent drop in vehicle prices and leasing costs. IAN AUSTEN

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