Business today

By Times staff writer
© St. Petersburg Times
published May 8, 2002

FED NOMINEES IDENTIFIED: President Bush intends to nominate a Princeton economist and a top adviser to Alan Greenspan to vacant positions on the Federal Reserve Board, administration officials said. The nominees to the seven-member board will be Ben Bernanke of Princeton and Donald Kohn, a longtime staffer with the Fed in Washington. Bernanke and Kohn would fill vacancies created by the departures of Laurence H. Meyer, who left in January when his term expired, and Edward Kelley Jr., the Fed's longest serving board member, who retired in December after 141/2 years.

CONSUMERS UNION RECALLS KIT: Consumer Reports says it's guilty of giving consumers a potentially dangerous product. The magazine's publisher, Consumers Union, is recalling 15,000 glove compartment organizers sent as an incentive to new subscribers. The kits contain a flashlight that can overheat and melt the case and a tire pressure gauge that gives inaccurate readings, which could lead people to improperly inflate their tires. The company did not test the kits until readers began to complain. Ten people have reported problems with the gauge or flashlight, including two who received minor burns from the flashlight.

PEPSI TO INTRODUCE NEW DRINK: PepsiCo Inc. said it plans to introduce Pepsi Blue, a wild-berry flavor version of its flagship brand, by the end of July or early August. The drink is an attempt by PepsiCo to attract more 13-to-24-year-old consumers. The announcement comes as rival Coca-Cola is showcasing a new vanilla version of its namesake beverage. One of the few drinks to draw new consumers recently was Mountain Dew Code Red, a cherry-flavored drink introduced by Pepsi last spring that has proven a quick success with teens.

MICROSOFT ACQUISITION: Microsoft Corp. said it is buying the Danish software company Navision for $1.3-billion in cash and stock, as Microsoft moves to increase its presence in Europe. It would be Microsoft's second biggest acquisition ever. Under terms of the deal, Navision will become part of Microsoft's business solutions division.

FAST-FOOD TALKS: The parent company of Arby's restaurants has submitted a bid last week in the auction for Burger King, the Miami Herald reported. A spokeswoman for Triarc, which franchises more than 3,300 restaurants under the Arby's, T.J. Cinnamons and Pasta Connection brands, would not comment. Burger King's parent company, Diageo PLC, is seeking a price between $2-billion and $2.4-billion.

RETAILER REPORTS RISING INCOME: Delhaize Group, a Belgian retailer whose holdings include the Food Lion and Kash n' Karry grocery chains, reported an 81 percent increase in first-quarter income. Net income came to 48.3-million euros, or $44.34-million, up from 26.7-million euros. Analysts were particularly pleased by good results in the United States, where Delhaize does almost 80 percent of its business. Its American stores reported an average sales year-to-year increase of 1.5 percent -- despite competition from Wal-Mart Stores Inc. Delhaize said it also was helped by higher sales and savings from integrating its 1999 acquisition of Hannaford Bros.

JETBLUE SHARES SLIDE: JetBlue Airways Corp. shares slipped 9 percent after UBS Warburg LLC started coverage of the carrier with a "reduce" rating. UBS Warburg co-underwrote the fast-growing airline's wildly successful initial public offering last month. Analyst Samuel Buttrick said that JetBlue is a "great airline" whose stock "appears overvalued" at 35 times UBS's earnings estimate for 2003 and double its IPO price. The stock closed at $49.60, down $4.90.

TREASURY AUCTION: Yields on five-year Treasury notes rose in Tuesday's auction. The yield was 4.475 percent, up from 4.254 percent at the last auction Feb. 5. The notes will carry a coupon interest rate of 43/8 percent. A total of $22-billion in notes were sold out of bids totaling $37.8-billion. Also, the Treasury sold $20-billion of four-week bills at a discount rate of 1.725 percent, down from 1.735 percent on April 30.

© 2006 • All Rights Reserved • Tampa Bay Times
490 First Avenue South • St. Petersburg, FL 33701 • 727-893-8111

Contact the Times | Privacy Policy
Standard of Accuracy | Terms, Conditions & Copyright