Business digest

NORTHWEST TO SHUT TAMPA FACILITY: Northwest Airlines will close its small maintenance facility at Tampa International Airport as well as similar operations in Miami, Phoenix and Portland, Ore., as it attempts to control costs. Together, all of the closures affect about 60 workers, who will be allowed to transfer within the airline's network if they choose.

PHILIP MORRIS CHANGES NAME: Philip Morris Companies Inc., the world's largest tobacco firm, officially changed its name to Altria Group Inc. But the name Philip Morris isn't going away entirely. Philip Morris still will be used for Altria's tobacco companies, Philip Morris International Inc. and Philip Morris USA Inc. Its food group will continue to be called Kraft Foods Inc. Shares will be listed under the name Altria on the New York Stock Exchange, but the company will retain its old symbol, MO.

LIQUIDMETAL TO TEST ALLOYS: Liquidmetal Technologies of Tampa will test applications for using its alloys in weapon systems made by defense contractor Lockheed Martin under an agreement announced by the two companies. Liquidmetal makes amorphous alloys that are two to three times stronger than commonly used titanium alloys. Under its initial one-year pact with Lockheed, LiquidMetal's alloys will be used to improve armor tiles. The Tampa company is also testing its alloys for military applications through ongoing programs with the U.S. Department of Defense and U.S. Army.

SUNBEAM SETTLES CHARGES: Former Sunbeam Corp. controller Robert J. Gluck and former vice president Donald Uzzi agreed to pay $100,000 each to settle regulatory charges that they contributed to a fraud led by then-Sunbeam chairman Albert Dunlap. Former Arthur Andersen LLP accountant Phillip E. Harlow, Sunbeam's lead auditor on the 1996 and 1997 audits, also settled Securities and Exchange Commission charges by agreeing to a three-year suspension as a public company auditor. Dunlap's schemes sought to inflate Sunbeam's earnings to make it more attractive to potential buyers and boost his potential gains, the SEC has said.

FRESH DEL MONTE ACQUISITION: Fresh Del Monte Produce Inc. said it has acquired Dallas-based Standard Fruit and Vegetable Co. and expects the deal to increase its presence in the Southwest. Fresh Del Monte, based in Coral Gables, did not disclose financial terms of the deal in a news release. Privately held Standard Fruit, a distributor of fresh fruit and vegetables, has annual revenues of $335-million. The company, founded in 1933, serves retail chains and wholesalers in 30 states.

J. CREW NAMES CHAIRMAN: J. Crew Group Inc. announced that Millard Drexler, 58, one of the retail industry's leading figures, was appointed chairman and chief executive, effective immediately. He resigned as Gap Inc.'s chief executive and chairman four months ago.

DYNEGY TRADER ARRESTED: A former Dynegy Inc. trader was arrested on charges that she lied about natural-gas prices to an industry newsletter during the height of California's energy crisis. Michelle Marie Valencia, 32, who headed Dynegy's gas-trading desk for the Western United States, was charged with giving sham data on 43 trades to Inside FERC, the U.S. Attorney's office in Houston said in a statement. It was the second case brought by federal prosecutors since December in a widening probe of energy-price manipulation that began last year.

CANNONDALE SEEKS BANKRUPTCY: Cannondale Corp., a maker of high-performance bicycles and motorcycles, said it will seek Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and sell its assets to Pegasus Partners II LP. The company, based in Bethel, Conn., said in a statement that difficulties with its motorsports business made the filing necessary. Cannondale has reported 11 straight quarterly losses. The company said its fiscal first-quarter earnings declined because suppliers in overseas markets failed to deliver bicycle parts on time.

AMERICAN EXPRESS PROFIT: American Express Co., the fourth-biggest U.S. credit-card issuer, said quarterly profit more than doubled as customers charged more and expenses declined. Net income in the fourth quarter climbed to $683-million, or 52 cents a share, from $297-million, or 22 cents, said spokeswoman Molly Faust. Revenue rose 6 percent to $6.2-billion. Chief executive Kenneth Chenault is focusing on individual cardholder spending as companies cut back on business trips after the 2001 recession. Fourth-quarter results mark a rebound from the slump that followed the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

TYSON EARNINGS DROP: Meat producer Tyson Foods Inc. reported that its earnings fell sharply in its first fiscal quarter, citing a slow economy, a meat oversupply and increased grain costs. The results fell short of analysts' consensus forecast, but were within the company's projections that it revised lower last month. Tyson earned $39-million, or 11 cents a share, for the three months ended Dec. 28, down from $127-million, or 36 cents a share, a year earlier. Sales were $5.8-billion compared to $5.9-billion for the period a year prior.

CREDIT-RATERS FACE INQUIRY: Wall Street credit-rating agencies, partly blamed by lawmakers for the massive accounting failure at Enron Corp., are being scrutinized by federal regulators for possibly stifling competition in their field. The Securities and Exchange Commission has been investigating since last year the role of the credit raters and considering whether they should be more tightly regulated. Their gradings of companies' creditworthiness are watched closely by the markets and can determine where banks and other financial institutions invest. Despite their power, the SEC allows them largely to police themselves. The SEC informed Congress on Friday that it is examining possible anticompetitive practices in a field dominated by three big companies: Moody's Investors Service, Standard & Poor's and Fitch Ratings.

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