Business briefs

SAN JOSE — After more than two years of promises and delays, Comcast Corp. has finally begun rolling out its first set-top boxes that run TiVo’s digital video recording technology.

As expected, New England is the first market to get the long-awaited Comcast-TiVo offering. The rollout started in the last few days with test customers only, TiVo spokesman Whit Clay said in a statement Thursday.

The boxes will be commercially available "in coming weeks,” a Comcast spokeswoman said. Pricing has not yet been disclosed.

The Comcast-TiVo deal was first announced in 2005 and is considered a key part of TiVo’s future as it works to attract more customers and become profitable.

TiVo pioneered the DVR and is the best known brand name but has struggled amid cheaper offerings by rivals, including Comcast.

Safeway’s 3Q profit climbs 12 percent to hit analysts’ target

SAN FRANCISCO — Safeway Inc.’s third-quarter profit climbed 12 percent to match analysts’ projections, the latest payoff from the grocer’s recent recipe of cutting labor costs while spending on store improvements to attract more shoppers.

The Pleasanton-based company said Thursday that it earned $194.6 million, or 44 cents per share, during the three months ended Sept. 8. That compared with $173.5 million, or 39 cents per share, in the prior-year quarter.

The results mirrored the average earnings estimate among analysts polled by Thomson Financial.

Revenue rose 4 percent to $9.78 billion, lagging the average analyst estimate of $9.83 billion for the quarter.

SLM says other buyers could emerge if deal falls through

WASHINGTON — The chairman of Sallie Mae on Thursday said the student lender has received calls from investors possibly interested in stepping in if the company cannot salvage its imperiled $25 billion buyout.

The company also reported a third-quarter loss of $344 million. SLM Corp.’s quarterly loss, equivalent to 85 cents a share, compared with profit of $263 million, or 60 cents a share, in the third quarter of 2006.

The company blamed its weaker-than-expected quarterly results on trading losses and the impact of recent student loan legislation that cut federal subsidies to Sallie Mae and soured its would-be buyers on the transaction, which is now being fought in court.

While the dispute with an investor group led by private equity firm J.C. Flowers & Co. plays itself out, Sallie Mae has received interest from others.

"We get calls” from other potential buyers, Chairman Albert Lord said during a conference call. "I’m actually not allowed to talk about them.”

The comments came three days after Sallie Mae sued an investor group led by private equity firm J.C. Flowers & Co. for attempting to back out of a $60-a-share offer for the company. The investors say student-loan legislation recently signed into law by President Bush, and weaker economic conditions, have made the price agreed upon in April unacceptable. A reduced cash offer of $50-a-share expired Tuesday.

Lord had some harsh words for the investor group, which includes Bank of America Corp. and JPMorgan Chase & Co., and in particular for J. Christopher Flowers, who runs the private equity firm bearing his name.

The two banks "remain the logical owners for the company, but they’re not the only possible owners,” Lord said. "So if Chris’s deal doesn’t go, so be it. We’ll start over.”

A representative for J.C. Flowers could not immediately be reached for comment.

The Reston, Va.-based company reported "core earnings” of $259 million, or 59 cents a share in the July-September period, compared with $321 million, or 73 cents a share. Core earnings exclude treatment for student loans bundled together as securities and derivatives, the complex financial instruments used as a hedge against interest-rate swings.

Analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial anticipated quarterly core earnings of 74 cents per share.

The company’s chief executive, C.E. Andrews, said "we successfully faced a number of challenges this quarter.’

The student-loan provider said core net interest income was $664.3 million, up from $601.4 million a year ago. Net interest income is the difference between how much it costs a bank to borrow money and the amount it receives from lending money.

Shares of Sallie Mae gained 40 cents, or 0.8 percent, to $49.03 in afternoon trading.