Over 50% of P&G layoffs in year were at Gillette

Procter & Gamble Co. has eliminated 2,800 positions over the past fiscal year, with more than half coming from Gillette, as a result of P&G's takeover of the Boston shaving firm. P&G's $54 billion acquisition of Gillette is expected to result in an estimated 5,000 job cuts from the combined workforce of about 140,000. Already, Boston has lost about 400 Gillette jobs due to attrition and consolidation. P&G spokeswoman Heather Valento could not provide an exact number for Gillette job cuts, but said Gillette employees were promised they would know their job status within the first six months of the acquisition. There will continue to be cuts at P&G and Gillette over the next year and a half, Valento said. (Jenn Abelson)

Foreclosure filings in Massachusetts spiked in July, more evidence that the housing market in the state is still on a downward spiral. There were 1,348 foreclosures statewide last month, an average of nearly 70 every day and 56 percent more than the 866 filings in July 2005. Foreclosure filings are the first step lenders must take on the path to removing a borrower from a home for missing mortgage payments. Jeremy Shapiro, ForeclosuresMass.com's president, blamed rising interest rates and energy costs for the increases, which he said should continue at least through year-end. (Keith Reed)

Sovereign Bancorp is reviewing its security procedures following the theft of three laptops in Massachusetts that might contain customers' personal data. Carl Brown, a spokesman for the Philadelphia-based parent of Sovereign Bank, said customers were ``upset and concerned" about the situation. Sovereign has offered to help them set up new accounts. Sovereign declined to specify how many customers were potentially affected, but said it was less than 1 percent of its customers. The thefts occurred when three employees' locked cars -- two parked next to each other in Quincy and one in downtown Boston -- were broken into, all on Aug. 2. (AP)

A Wareham cranberry company is moving its headquarters to Carver. Decas Cranberry Products Inc. already has its main cranberry processing plant in Carver, and now it is moving executive offices there, the company said. Decas was founded in 1915 and has been headquartered in Wareham since 1934.(Keith Reed)

T.J. Maxx is planning to open designer boutiques at 25 stores nationwide this fall. The boutiques, called ``The Runway at Maxx," will open locally on Sept. 10 at stores in Bedford, Cambridge, Framingham, and Sudbury. The boutiques will host both American and European designers -- from couture to pop trend favorites -- with prices up to 60 percent less than those found in top boutiques and fashion houses. (Jenn Abelson)

Harvard University's endowment fund hired Stephen Blyth to lead its international bond group, rounding out its senior management team. Blyth has headed global rates proprietary trading at Deutsche Bank AG in London since 2003, according to Boston-based Harvard Management Co., which oversees the fund. Harvard's endowment was $25.9 billion in June 2005. Mohamed El-Erian, Harvard Management's chief executive since January, has now achieved his goal of hiring five senior-level officials for the university-owned company. (Bloomberg)

Novell Inc., a Waltham maker of open-source business software, said preliminary third-quarter profit jumped, but shares fell after hours on news the company has launched an internal investigation into the timing of past stock options grants. Novell said its quarterly filing may be delayed by its audit committee review and that it may need to restate past earnings. Earnings soared to $11.7 million, or 3 cents per share, from $2.1 million, or break even per share, in the year-ago period. Results included $7.6 million in stock options expenses, a charge of $9.4 million for executive termination benefits, and other items. Excluding stock-based compensation expenses, severance-related costs, and other items, earnings were 5 cents per share. Revenue dropped 4 percent to $241.4 million, from $252.4 million a year earlier. (AP)

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