Business Today

TENET SNIPS HERE AND THERE: Tenet Healthcare Corp. said it will sell 14 hospitals including the 128-bed Seven Rivers Community Hospital in Crystal River. That will leave the Santa Barbara chain, the nation's second largest hospital operator, with 14 facilities in the state, all of them in south Florida. Tenet said it is selling properties in non-core markets with proceeds being used to repurchase the company's shares.

SHIVERING THE TIMBERS: U.S. housing starts fell in February by the most in nine years as winter weather hampered construction in the South and Midwest. Builders broke ground on new homes at an annual rate of 1.622-million units, down 11 percent from January's 1.822-million, the Commerce Department said. Mortgage rates have fallen to the lowest on record and building permits, a gauge of future construction, increased to a pace that exceeded last year's average.

LIGHT AT THE END OF THE RUNWAY: Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta said that President Bush is poised to assist the nation's airlines if the beleaguered industry is further undermined by war in Iraq. Mineta's remarks were the first signal that the Bush administration is prepared to support additional airline industry aid. The comments came just hours after United Airlines warned in a court filing that it could be forced out of business this year if unable to secure the deep labor cuts it's proposing in bankruptcy -- its bleakest assessment yet.

US AIRWAYS HAS HOPES: A bankruptcy judge approved US Airways' plans to emerge from bankruptcy by the end of the month, provided the airline can reach agreement with its pilots on a new pension plan. The Air Line Pilots Association has objected to the airline's efforts to terminate the existing pension plan and replaced it with a smaller plan that would save the company about $800-million over the next seven years. Many of the pilots could see their benefits cut in half.

P&G GOES BEYOND ITS ROOTS: Procter & Gamble Co. agreed to buy German hair-care products company Wella AG for $6.9-billion to add a business growing more than twice as fast as its own. The largest U.S. household-goods manufacturer, which makes Clairol hair tints and Pantene shampoo, will gain brands including Koleston Perfect colorants and System Professional shampoos sold at salons rather than stores. The acquisition will add about $3.6-billion in sales to Procter & Gamble's annual revenue of $40.2-billion, which includes staples such as Crest toothpaste, Pampers diapers and Pringles snack chips.

JUST 7,999 OR SO TO GO: A Texas jury cleared Bayer Corp. of liability in a $560-million lawsuit that accused the pharmaceutical giant of ignoring research linking the cholesterol-lowering drug Baycol to dozens of deaths. The jury deliberated for 21/2 days before returning the verdict. It was the first of about 8,000 cases against Bayer to go to trial.

FOR WHOM BELLSOUTH TOLLS: BellSouth Corp. said it will eliminate 1,077 technician jobs to help reduce costs. The third-largest U.S. local-telephone company may offer new positions to half the workers and fire the rest. The jobs represent about 1.4 percent of its workforce. BellSouth has cut 11,000 jobs in the past two years to help cope with a 14 percent decline in sales.

TREASURY AUCTION: The interest rate on the U.S. Treasury's four-week bills rose from a record low a week earlier at the government's auction of the securities. The Treasury sold $27-billion of the bills at a discount rate of 1.165 percent, up from 1.12 percent last week and the highest since 1.19 percent on March 4.

FEDS GO FOR BIG BUCKS: The nation's tobacco companies should forfeit $289-billion in profits for a scheme to deceive and defraud smokers and the general public, the Justice Department said in court filings Tuesday. The companies that are charged in the lawsuit are Philip Morris, a unit of Altria; Brown & Williamson, a unit of British American Tobacco; Lorillard, a unit of Loews; R.J. Reynolds Tobacco; and the Liggett unit of the Vector Group. They plan to file a joint motion for dismissal in the fall, lawyers for the companies said. Each of the companies maintains that it is innocent of the government's charges. Tobacco stocks fell Tuesday.

AIR FRANCE PRIVE: The French parliament took a first step Tuesday toward privatizing national carrier Air France. The state currently owns 54.4 percent of the flagship airline but wants to reduce its stake to about 35 percent, part of a wide government program of selling off state assets.

ONE RING FOR EVERYTHING: Sprint Corp. plans to sell a combined local, wireless and long-distance calling service to win business from local-phone rivals. Sprint says it wants to take advantage of federal regulations that allow it to lease space on local-phone networks at discounted rates. Long-distance carriers such as Sprint and AT&T Corp. want to generate more revenue from local calling to compensate for declining long-distance sales.

SHOP, SHOP, SHOP: Liz Claiborne Inc. has been a relentless shopper over the past four years. On Tuesday, the New York-based apparel maker snapped up the Juicy Couture brand of pricey casual duds, adding yet another designer label to its collection of women's wear that ranges from loungewear to silk power suits. Financial terms weren't disclosed. Privately held Juicy Couture made $47-million last year peddling its $160 terrycloth warm-up suits and $44 T-shirts that have become popular with some of Hollywood's most-photographed celebrities.

Earnings

Oracle Corp.: The business software maker reported higher quarterly profits and delivered its first sales gains in two years in the quarter ending Feb. 28, offering the latest glimmer of hope in the downtrodden technology sector.

© 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