Business Digest

MCCOLL TO JOIN SYKES BOARD: Sykes Enterprises Inc. of Tampa has landed a high-caliber businessman for its board of directors: Hugh McColl Jr. The former chairman and CEO of Bank of America could come in handy at Sykes, a customer-support outsourcer that has been trying to drum up business with financial services companies. Following his retirement from Bank of America in 2001, McColl co-founded McColl Partners LLC, a merger and acquisitions services company. He and CEO John Sykes serve together on the board of Queens College of Charlotte, N.C., Sykes' alma mater. McColl serves on four additional corporate boards. Sykes' shares rose $1.24 to $10.57.

DOLLAR GENERAL RESTATES EARNINGS: Dollar General Corp. lowered its earnings for fiscal years 1998 through 2000 by 60 cents a share after a review sparked by allegations of accounting fraud. The company said it earned a combined $1.21 a share for fiscal 1998, 1999 and 2000 including the expense of settling lawsuits. That's lower than the combined $1.81 it previously disclosed for the three years and less than the $1.74 a share it expected to report when it began the re-examination more than eight months ago. Dollar General's shares fell 15 cents to $16.09. The news was released after the close of regular U.S. trading.

KFORCE LOSS TO WIDEN: Kforce Inc. of Tampa said its fourth-quarter loss was wider than analysts' estimates because of the sale of its education services unit and job cuts. The loss was 50 to 55 cents a share and includes a charge of 47 cents a share related to the sale, severance costs, and the write-down of certain assets. Analysts had expected Kforce to lose 2 cents a share. Its shares closed trading at $6.05, down 21 cents. The report came after the close of regular trading.

KMART RATING LOWERED: Kmart Corp. shares fell 14 percent after Moody's Investors Service and Standard & Poor's cut the chain's ratings. The stock dropped 46 cents to $2.84. Kmart is seeking additional funds after failing to turn a profit this fiscal year and setting back chief executive Chuck Conaway's turnaround plans.

ENRON RECEIVED WARNING: Two Republican congressmen have demanded all records from Enron Corp. relating to its review of an employee's allegations that the company was hiding losses in a related company. Reps. Billy Tauzin of Louisiana, chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, and James Greenwood of Pennsylvania, said the unidentified Enron employee warned company chairman Kenneth Lay last August that "we will implode in a wave of accounting scandals" unless the company halted practices that eventually sent it into bankruptcy. A review by an outside law firm concluded that the concerns expressed by the Enron employee did not warrant further widespread investigation.

DILLARD'S DEBT UNDER REVIEW: Dillard's Inc.'s debt ratings were put on review for a possible reduction by Moody's Investors Service because of slowing apparel sales and declining earnings at the department-store chain. Per-share profit in the fiscal fourth quarter is expected to drop to 80 cents a share from $1.09 a year earlier. Shares of Dillard's fell 63 cents to $16.17.

TREASURY AUCTION: Interest rates on short-term Treasury securities fell in Monday's auction. The Treasury Department sold $13-billion in three-month bills at a discount rate of 1.53 percent, down from 1.655 percent last week. An additional $13-billion was sold in six-month bills at a rate of 1.58 percent, down from 1.75 percent. The new discount rates understate the actual return to investors: 1.558 percent for three-month bills and 1.615 percent for a six-month bill. In a separate report, the Federal Reserve said Monday that the average yield for one-year constant maturity Treasury bills fell to 2.13 percent last week from 2.24 percent the previous week.

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