From Wire Reports

SAN FRANCISCO – Fitness-tracking device maker Fitbit on Wednesday priced its initial public offering of stock at $20 per share, slightly more than anticipated.

The pricing marks the final step before Fitbit’s stock begins trading today on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol “FIT.” The San Francisco company will debut with a market value of about $4 billion.

Fitbit sold 22.4 million shares, raising $448 million. Fitbit’s stockholders sold another 14.2 million shares, worth about $284 million.

Fitbit makes devices that can be worn on the wrist or clipped to clothing to monitor daily steps, calories burned, and grab other data.

The company said it sold 10.9 million devices last year to nearly triple its annual revenue to $745 million. It posted a profit of $38.5 million.

Starbucks to close La Boulange cafes

Three years after acquiring the highly touted Bay Area bakery chain, Starbucks Corp. said Tuesday it will close all 23 La Boulange cafes by the end of September.

The Seattle-based coffee giant said in a statement that the stores are “not sustainable for the company’s long-term growth.”

La Boulange food will still be served at Starbucks stores in San Francisco, across the U.S. and in Canada.

The two manufacturing facilities that served the La Boulange bakery cafes, as well as the Evolution Fresh juice cafe in San Francisco, will also be closed.

Starbucks acquired the artisan bakery company in 2012 for $100 million. At the time, Starbucks said it was responding to customer requests for “more wholesome and delicious food options.”

Foster Farms suspends 5 after video of cruelty

LOS ANGELES – Poultry producer Foster Farms suspended five employees Wednesday after an animal-rights group released undercover video showing live birds being slammed upside-down into shackles, punched and plucked.

The suspended employees were either directly involved in the abuse or failed to report it to management, the California-based company said in a statement released through a public relations firm.

The company said it is reinforcing animal welfare training companywide.

The undercover video, obtained by the Associated Press in advance of its release Wednesday, was shot by Los Angeles-based Mercy for Animals, which advocates against eating meat.

The group said the footage was taken between April and June at a Foster Farms slaughterhouse in Fresno and the company’s nearby farms.

In the undercover footage, workers are seen throwing bins of live baby chicks onto the ground, after which some are shown apparently unable to move.

Withholding change may mean tax-free 2017

PARIS – France is considering making 2017 a year free of income tax.

The government wants to shift to a system of automatic withholding, similar to that in the United States and much of the rest of the world. Employees in France currently pay taxes a year after their income is earned.

Christian Eckert, France’s budget secretary, said Wednesday that the government will not double-tax workers in 2018, the year automatic withholding is to begin.

So 2017 incomes could effectively be tax-free for regular salaries.

Taxpayers won’t actually feel much of a difference though – they would still spend 2017 paying for the previous year.