Business news in brief

In the Region

Sales contracts up from month before

Agreements of sale to purchase existing homes rose 5.2 percent in July from June, but were 19.1 percent below July 2009, the National Association of Realtors reported. Sales contracts typically close two months after they are signed. Pending sales in the eight-county Philadelphia region were just two houses below June - 3,188 vs. 3,186 - but were 30.1 percent below July 2009, according to Prudential Fox & Roach's HomExpert Report. - Alan J. Heavens

Citizens parent cuts 3,500 UK jobs

Royal Bank of Scotland is cutting 3,500 more British jobs as part of its plan to halve the bank's administration centers across Britain. The new cuts add to the 9,000 job losses announced by RBS in the division last year. RBS, the parent of Citizens Bank of Pennsylvania, was bailed out by the British government at the height of the crisis and is now 83 percent owned by taxpayers. - AP

PPL to hold rates steady in Ky.

PPL Corp., Allentown, said it had reached a settlement in its proposed purchase in Kentucky of E.ON U.S., which owns Louisville Gas & Electric Co. and Kentucky Utilities. Under the settlement, PPL agreed that the two utilities would not raise their base rates until at least Jan. 1, 2013, but would be allowed to seek increases for "extraordinary and uncontrollable costs," as well as for fuel and environmental costs. The agreement, reached with community groups that had opposed the purchase, must be approved by the Kentucky Public Service Commission. PPL in April announced its plan to buy E.ON U.S. for $6.7 billion, plus the assumption of $900 million in debt. The Kentucky company is the U.S. electric and natural-gas unit of German utility E.ON. - Paul Schweizer

Elsewhere

Bernanke: No way to save Lehman