Business Digest

INVENTORIES CONTINUE TO SLIDE: U.S. inventories fell in February for a 13th straight month, reflecting declines at wholesalers and manufacturers, the Commerce Department said. The 0.1 percent decrease to $1.13-trillion matched January's revised decline. The level of inventories in February was the lowest since $1.129-trillion in November 1999, Commerce Department officials said.

JOB CUTS AT GE CAPITAL: General Electric Co. said it plans to cut 7,000 jobs at its GE Capital financial unit, and reduce expenses at the business by about $1-billion this year. The cuts represent slightly more than 2 percent of GE's work force of 310,000. Spokesman David Jensen of GE Capital said the company's presence in the Tampa Bay area is "small," though he did not have a precise figure. GE said last week that its net income fell for the first time in more than seven years, and sales were little changed in the first quarter. GE Capital represents about 40 percent of the company's profits. Shares of General Electric fell $1.70 to $31.85.

MCI TO OFFER FLAT RATE PLAN: WorldCom Inc. has begun selling a combined local and long-distance calling plan to fight competition from regional carriers. The package is being sold under the MCI brand in 32 states for a flat rate of $49.99 to $59.99 a month. It will be available in 48 states by early 2003, a spokeswoman said, although bay area counties are not expected to be offered the service in its initial phase. WorldCom shares rose 6 cents to $5.07. MCI Group, which trades as a tracking stock, rose 3 cents to $4.75.

TAKEOVER BID SWEETENED: Defense contractor Northrop Grumman Corp. increased its bid for TRW Inc. to $6.7-billion, a month after TRW's board rejected an unsolicited offer of $5.9-billion. Analysts had predicted that Northrop would sweeten its offer for the space and defense business, and they said the new bid was in line with their expectations. The new offer is valued at $53 a share, compared with an original bid of $47 per share. Northrop Grumman set a May 3 deadline for the offer to be accepted or rejected. TRW said in a statement that its board would review the new offer, but advised its shareholders to take no action for now. TRW shares rose 30 cents to $52.27; Northrop shares fell $3.42 to $114.89.

ANCHOR GLASS FILES FOR BANKRUPTCY: Anchor Glass Container Corp. filed a prenegotiated bankruptcy reorganization plan. The Tampa company, the nation's third-largest manufacturer of glass beverage containers, said it hopes to erase some $50-million of debt. The move "allows Anchor Glass to recapitalize and provides us with a more stable financial base for the future," president and chief operating officer Richard Deneau said. The company first revealed its reorganization plans last month. Anchor previously filed for bankruptcy court protection in 1996.

EXIDE DECLARES BANKRUPTCY: Exide Technologies Inc. filed for bankruptcy protection amid fears it faced default on more than $2.5-billion in debt. Exide has $415-million in new financing to keep operating, a company spokesman said. The battery manufacturer warned in a February filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission that a cash crunch could lead to a default on debt. It lost $200.5-million, or $7.33 a share, on sales of $633.2-million in the third quarter ended Dec. 31. In March 2000, Exide pleaded guilty to fraud and conspiracy charges and agreed to pay a $27.5-million fine to end a criminal investigation into auto battery sales to Sears, Roebuck and Co. Exide's stock rose 3 cents to 20 cents on the OTC Bulletin Board.

COKE CONFIRMS NEW DRINK: Ending months of speculation, Coca-Cola said it will launch a vanilla-flavored version of its flagship soft drink May 15. Coke also said it will redesign the packaging of its Cherry Coke brand, which it introduced in 1985.

PROVIDIAN TO SELL OFF SOME ASSETS: Providian Financial Corp. agreed to sell about $2.6-billion in higher risk assets to two limited liability companies formed by affiliates of Goldman Sachs & Co., Citigroup Inc.'s Salomon Smith Barney, CardWorks Inc., and CompuCredit Corp. In November, the financial services company said it was pursuing the sale of $3-billion in high-risk credit-card receivables. The transaction, expected to close in May, includes about 1.7-million credit card accounts. Its shares fell 19 cents to $7.50.

INTEL SETTLES PATENT DISPUTE: Intel Corp. has agreed to pay $300-million to settle a suit claiming its Pentium microprocessors infringed on patents owned by Intergraph Corp. Under the deal, Intergraph's long-running federal lawsuit against Intel in Alabama will be dismissed and potential damages against Intel in another case pending in Texas will be capped. The companies also signed a cross-licensing agreement, and Intergraph agreed to sell undisclosed patents to Intel. Intel will take a charge of about $150-million in its first-quarter earnings scheduled to be released today. Intel shares fell 28 cents to $28.11.

BEST BUY STOCK SPLIT: Best Buy Inc., whose stock rose more than 150 percent in 2001, has declared a 3-for-2 stock split. The split is payable May 10 to shareholders of record April 26. As of Friday, the electronics retailer had about 213.2-million shares outstanding. Shares of Best Buy closed at $77.38, down 10 cents.

TREASURY AUCTION: Interest rates on short-term Treasury securities fell in Monday's auction. The Treasury Department sold $10-billion in three-month bills at a discount rate of 1.68 percent, down from 1.71 percent last week. An additional $10-billion was sold in six-month bills at a rate of 1.905 percent, down from 1.975 percent. The new discount rates understate the actual return to investors: 1.712 percent for three-month bills and 1.95 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 2.53 percent last week from 2.64 percent the previous week.

Eli Lilly and Co.

Lilly reported its third consecutive quarterly earnings decline of more than 20 percent since last summer's loss of its lucrative Prozac patent. The drugmaker is headquartered in Indianapolis. Results are for the quarter ended March 31.

Pepsi Bottling Group Inc.

Net income for the quarter ended March 23 more than doubled for the Somers, N.Y., company, the largest bottler of PepsiCo Inc.'s beverages.

Checkers Drive-In Restaurants Inc.

Checkers, the Tampa operator of Checkers and Rally's restaurants, saw its net income triple during the quarter ended March 25. The company cited several factors, including reduced expenses. Also, Checkers ended the quarter with 255 company-owned restaurants, vs. 207 a year earlier. Same-store sales grew just 0.2 percent at company-owned restaurants and 1.5 percent at franchises. The company's stock rose nearly 14 percent percent to $12.93.

According to the company's recent proxy statement, chief executive Daniel Dorsch received a salary and bonus totaling $661,692 in 2001. He had a comparatively small package worth $289,998 in 2000, but also received 500,000 shares of long-term stock options that year.

Correction

The first required distribution from an individual retirement account must be taken by April 1 of the year after you turn 70 1/2. Due to a transmission error, a Washington Post story reprinted in Sunday's Times misstated the requirement.

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