Business digest

JETBLUE ADDS N.Y. FLIGHT: JetBlue Airways will add a fourth nonstop flight between Tampa International Airport and New York's John F. Kennedy International on March 10. The flight will leave New York at 4:10 p.m. and arrive at TIA at 7:05, then turn around for New York at 7:40, arriving at 10:10. JetBlue has one later flight arriving here from New York, at 9:50 p.m., but it returns to New York the next morning.

PAYPAL SHARES RISE: PayPal Inc. shares surged 55 percent as the provider of online payment services became the first Internet company to go public in almost a year. PayPal rose $7.09 to $20.05, the best first-day stock performance since May. The company, which has yet to turn a profit, raised $70.2-million in its sale Thursday. PayPal's sale was delayed for more than a week after the company was sued by rival CertCo Inc., which claims PayPal is using its patent without a license.

HILLSBOROUGH RAISES TOURISM SPENDING: The Hillsborough County Tourist Development Council agreed to spend an extra $450,000 in resort tax money in a pair of co-operative advertising programs aimed at tourists. Partners in the $1.4-million campaigns are Visit Florida Inc. and the St. Petersburg/Clearwater Area Convention and Visitors Bureau. The ads begin appearing next week in the Midwest, Northeast and Orlando.

SYKES PILOT PROJECTS: Sykes Enterprises Inc. has pilot projects with five telecommunications and financial services companies, chief executive John Sykes told Wall Street analysts Friday. Each test involves roughly 30 to 100 Sykes agents and, if successful, could lead to a long-term contract. Among the tests: answering questions from credit card users. About 26 percent of the company's 2001 revenues came from telecommunications and 3 percent from financial services. As for Sykes Enterprises' tough 2001, the CEO said one reason revenues fell was because the company ended roughly $25-million worth of contracts with dot-coms. Sykes' shares closed at $7.51, down 11 percent, or 89 cents.

FLORIDA INVESTIGATES ECKERD: Eckerd Drug of Largo is facing a civil investigation by Florida officials into allegations it overcharged customers for medicine. The Florida attorney general's office said on its Web site it is investigating whether Eckerd overstated on liquid-medicine labels the amount of medicine in the package and then charged customers for the amount shown on the label. A class-action lawsuit filed in Broward County accused Eckerd of bilking customers out of more than $100-million. The company has said its labels sometimes rounded up the amount of medicine, but customers were not charged extra. Shares of J.C. Penney Co., Eckerd's parent, fell 88 cents to $21.70.

PROFIT-TAKING ON WALL STREET: Wall Street fell back as investors decided to lock in profits from the week's rally. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed down 98.95 at 9,903.04, pulling back from the 10,000 level it passed by just over a point Thursday. The Dow had gained 376 points in the previous five sessions.

INDUSTRIAL OUTPUT STABILIZING: Industrial production dipped in January by just 0.1 percent, the smallest decline in six months, raising hopes that the nation's beleaguered manufacturing sector may be edging toward a recovery. The small decline in output at the nation's factories, mines and utilities followed a steeper 0.3 percent drop in December, the Federal Reserve reported. The 0.1 percent decline marked the best showing since July, when output rose 0.1 percent.

WHOLESALE PRICES INCH UP: Wholesale prices edged up 0.1 percent in January, the Labor Department said. Excluding food and energy, wholesale prices fell 0.1 percent after no change in the prior month. Analysts had expected a 0.2 percent rise in the producer price index and a 0.1 percent increase in the core rate. For the 12 months ended Jan. 31, wholesale prices have fallen 2.6 percent, the biggest drop since 1950.

VERIZON WIRELESS CUTS: Verizon Wireless Inc. said it will fire 1,000 employees as it repositions staff. The cuts will take place across the United States in departments such as finance, legal, human resources and marketing, a spokesman said. The reduction will affect less than 2 percent of its work force. The reductions mark the fourth time Verizon Wireless, a venture of Verizon Communications Inc. and Vodafone Group PLC, has eliminated jobs since April 2000.

REVLON CEO RESIGNS: Revlon Inc. president and chief executive Jeffrey M. Nugent has resigned. The announcement follows a report Friday in the Wall Street Journal that chairman Ronald Perelman planned to replace Nugent with Jack Stahl, who left his position last year as president and chief operating officer at Coca-Cola Co. Nugent came on board two years ago to spearhead the cosmetic giant's turnaround. Revlon did not reveal who Nugent's successor would be, only stating it would name a replacement soon. Revlon shares fell 10 cents to $3.82.

SPRINT PCS TO CLOSE CENTERS: Sprint PCS plans to close five of its customer service centers, putting an estimated 3,000 people out of work. Centers in Atlanta, Tallahassee and Jacksonville will close April 16. The center in Lawrence, Kan., will close May 31 and a center in Irvine, Calif., will close June 28.

BROWN & BROWN STOCK SALE: Brown & Brown Inc. said it intends to raise more than $175-million through selling at least 5-million shares of its common stock. The merger-driven general insurer, which has dual headquarters in Tampa and Daytona Beach, will use the money largely to fund more acquisitions. The company's shares fell 72 cents to $34.09.

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