[naviga:h3]Memorial business issues refunds [/naviga:h3]

MEYERSDALE, Pa. — The former operators of a Western Pennsylvania memorial business have refunded nearly $19,000 to customers who made advanced payments for burial monuments and didn’t receive them.

Fred Lichty and Roger Lichty, who operated Cook & Lintz in Meyersdale, have agreed with the state Attorney General’s Office to get out of business in Pennsylvania.

Spokesman Jeff Johnson says the office’s Bureau of Consumer Protection began receiving complaints from customers more than a year ago. Officials said Monday that some complained that the company failed to provide burial monuments after accepting advance payments.

William Carroll, the Lichtys’ attorney, says his clients ran into some “cash flow problems.”

[naviga:h3]Microsoft posts net loss of $3.2 billion[/naviga:h3]

LOS ANGELES — Microsoft booked an $8.4 billion charge in the fourth quarter, swallowing a bitter pill by writing off the Nokia phone business it bought just over a year ago. It narrowly beat analysts’ depressed expectations for a quarter that also saw a steep decline in personal computer sales even as it prepares to launch its latest operating system, Windows 10.

The Redmond, Wash.-based software giant posted a net loss of $3.2 billion, or 40 cents per share, reversing a profit of $4.61 billion, or 55 cents per share, a year ago.

Adjusted to exclude the charges, the company posted a quarterly profit of 62 cents per share, beating the average estimate of 15 analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research of 31 cents per share.

The write-down was expected after CEO Satya Nadella announced 7,800 job cuts two weeks ago. The company will continue to make phones on a smaller scale, paring down its lower-cost offerings.

[naviga:h3]Apple reports record earnings[/naviga:h3]

SAN JOSE, Calif. — With consumers worldwide continuing their love affair with the large-screened iPhone 6, Apple on Tuesday reported record earnings for its third fiscal quarter, posting profits of $10.7 billion, or $1.85 per share, on revenue of $49.6 billion, compared with $1.40 a share on $37.4 billion in quarterly revenue a year earlier.

Apple attributed the strong showing to record-breaking sales of iPhones and Macs, along with strong revenue from services and the successful launch of Apple Watch. As expected, Apple did not release a breakdown of how many watches it sold.

Apple sold 47.5 iPhones, nearly 11 million iPads and 4.8 million Macs. Apple said iPhone sales were up 35 percent from a year earlier, while quarterly profit surged 38 percent.

“We had an amazing quarter, with iPhone revenue up 59 percent over last year, strong sales of Mac, all-time record revenue from services, driven by the App Store, and a great start for Apple Watch,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO. “The excitement for Apple Music has been incredible, and we’re looking forward to releasing iOS 9, OS X El Capitan and watchOS 2 to customers in the fall.”