Business Today

BANKRUPTCY SETTLEMENT: The former owners of Newport Creamery have agreed to settle their bankruptcy lawsuits for about $6.7-million, according to documents filed in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Providence, R.I. Trustee Andrew Richardson sued former owners Robert and Linda Swain of Clearwater last September, claiming they siphoned $9-million from the restaurant chain for their personal use, forcing it into bankruptcy. Robert Swain also agreed to erase his claims the Creamery owes him $2.56-million in back rent. The settlement still must be approved by a Bankruptcy Court judge; a hearing is scheduled for Oct. 17. In a separate case, Robert Swain has pleaded innocent to state racketeering charges in Florida; he is accused of deceiving investors in the Tarpon Highlands and Tarpon Pointe housing developments in north Pinellas and Rutland Estates in St. Petersburg.

TOURISM ADS: The Tampa Bay Convention and Visitors Bureau said Thursday that it will split $100,000 equally among four Hillsborough County business districts that create custom-tailored tourist advertising aimed at filling hotel rooms. Businesses in each district must come up with a $25,000 match to qualify for the ad money, which must be spent outside the Tampa Bay area. The districts are Downtown/Ybor City, Westshore, North Tampa and southern Hillsborough County. For the upcoming fiscal year the bureau's total tourist ad budget, which is paid by a tax on hotel bills, is $1.2-million.

JABIL ACQUISITION: Contract electronics manufacturer Jabil Circuit Inc. of St. Petersburg is acquiring a Mexican plant under an agreement with Seagate, a maker of hard disk drives, Jabil said Thursday. Financial terms were not disclosed. Jabil said Seagate managers and employees would be offered jobs under the multiyear agreement, but it did not specify the number of jobs affected. The facility in Reynosa, Mexico, is used for repair and warranty work on Seagate's personal storage and enterprise storage hard disk drives. Jabil also plans to lease a nearby facility in McAllen, Texas, for support and distribution.

PSC MEMBER NOT RENOMINATED: The nominating council of the state Public Service Commission has rejected incumbent commissioner Michael Palecki's request to be considered again for nomination. Palecki, whose term expires in January, wasn't among eight people nominated to fill two pending vacancies on the PSC. Palecki asked to be reconsidered after incoming state Senate President Jim King, R-Jacksonville, sent the council an unsolicited letter on Palecki's behalf, which Palecki thinks may have caused rancor among council members.

FORD WILL CUT JOBS . . . : Ford Motor Co. will cut "several thousand" U.S. factory jobs by the end of the year, chief operating officer Nicholas Scheele said. The reductions are part of a previously announced plan to eliminate 35,000 jobs and close five factories by 2005. Scheele declined to specify how many jobs will be eliminated this year. The plan includes 12,000 jobs slashed last year.

. . . SO WILL AETNA: Aetna announced Thursday it plans to cut 2,750 jobs over the next year as the health insurer continues to trim operations in its return to profitability. The cuts will be made from a variety of positions among Aetna's 30,000 worldwide employees. Some 300 jobs will be cut in Connecticut, company officials said. The company, which posted losses in every quarter in 2001, has recorded a profit in the first two quarters of this year. As part of the rebound, Aetna has shed some of its membership from about 21-million five years ago to 14-million. The company expects to serve about 13.7-million members by the end of the year.

MANAGED CARE SUITS: A judge in Miami ruled Thursday that millions of managed care patients cannot sue their insurers in a single nationwide lawsuit. But he gave about 600,000 doctors the go-ahead to pursue a class-action case against the industry. The ruling virtually wipes out a colossal lawsuit covering an estimated 145-million patients. The patients accused the managed care industry of skimping on care by making decisions based on the bottom line rather than good medicine. U.S. District Judge Federico Moreno scheduled a trial for next May on the doctors' racketeering suit. The doctors complain that they are routinely shortchanged by managed care.

VITALIS SOLD: Hair care products maker Helen of Troy Corp. of El Paso, Texas, said Thursday that it agreed to acquire Vitalis and five other consumer brand names from Procter & Gamble Co. to expand its product lines beyond blow dryers and women's shavers. Terms were not disclosed. Under the agreement, which is expected to close in 90 days, Helen of Troy will directly buy Vitalis and Condition 3-in-1, Final Net, and Ammens. It will acquire the two other brands, Sea Breeze and Vitapointe, through license agreements.

BELLSOUTH SEVERANCE OFFER: Almost 5,000 BellSouth employees have volunteered to take a severance package from the Atlanta company and will leave by the end of the month. The strong response means fewer than 30 workers had to be fired from the telecommunications company, which in May said it was cutting about 6 percent of its work force. The packages are worth up to 150 percent of an employee's salary, plus health benefits for six months. In addition, employees can get two years of college tuition and fees. Nearly half of those taking the offer had been with the company more than 20 years. Retirement-age employees who volunteered to go will get health benefits for life. The latest cuts reduce BellSouth's work force to about 80,000.

DELOITTE TOUCHE CEO TO RETIRE: Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu, the world's second-largest accounting firm, said James Copeland will retire as chief executive of the global company and its U.S. unit, Deloitte & Touche LLP. Copeland, 57, who has run the firm for nine years, will step down when his term expires in May, Deloitte said.

DELHAIZE CUTS PROFIT FORECAST: Delhaize Group, owner of the Food Lion grocery chain, cut its 2002 profit forecast for the second time in two months as Wal-Mart Stores Inc. stepped up competition. Earnings per share will fall 24 percent to 29 percent, excluding currency fluctuations, good will and one-time costs, said Guy Elewaut, a spokesman. Delhaize makes about 80 percent of its $21-billion annual sales in the United States, where Wal-Mart is expanding into food and groceries to keep revenue and profit growing as the economy falters.

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

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