Business Today

STATE JOBLESS RATE FALLS: Florida's job market improved in February, state officials said Friday. The unemployment rate fell to 5.2 percent, down from 5.3 percent in January. There was a net gain of 54,800 jobs during the month, an increase of 0.8 percent. In the Tampa Bay area, the unemployment rate fell from 4.9 percent in January to 4.3 percent in February.

BANK FILES IPO: First Community Bank of America, a savings and loan holding company based in Pinellas Park, said Friday that it has filed to go public. The 8-year-old bank recently filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission to sell $8-million in an initial public offering. A prospectus should be available within six weeks. First Community, with $147-million in assets and 121-million in deposits, has three branches: in St. Petersburg, Pinellas Park and Port Charlotte.

INSURER SUES CLINIC: Progressive Corp. sued an Orlando-area chiropractor Friday, accusing him of scamming the insurance company out of more than $1-million by filing claims for made-up injuries from faked car accidents. The Orange County suit against First Chiropractic Clinic follows fraud and grand theft charges against the clinic's principal, Mirlourdes Beliard-Hopkins, who was arrested in September. Edgewood police accused Beliard-Hopkins of recruiting people to stage car accidents for money. The police said those involved would then claim they were injured in the accident and go to First Chiropractic for treatment. Progressive's suit includes fraud, civil theft and unfair trade practice charges. Named as defendants are Beliard-Hopkins, two chiropractors and First Chiropractic clinics in Orlando and Pine Hills.

UAL WINS WITH UNIONS: United Airlines' bid to gain employee backing for drastic cost cuts in bankruptcy got a twin boost Friday when mechanics tentatively agreed to a contract and pilots overwhelmingly ratified separate concessions. Combined, the two pacts would lower the bankrupt carrier's labor costs by $1.45-billion a year through 2008 -- $349-million from mechanics, $1.1-billion from the higher-paid pilots. Yet, even if all the accords are ratified, the airline faces a struggle to restructure and meet its lenders' strict requirements in bankruptcy court.

BUYOUT OFFER UPPED: Great Expressions Dental Centers Inc. of Bloomfield Hills, Mich., has raised its buyout offer for Tampa's Coast Dental Services Inc. to $7.50 from $6.50 a share despite repeated rejections by Coast's majority shareholders. The Diasti brothers, who own 52 percent of Coast and hold key executive positions, have offered minority shareholders $4.50 a share and said they plan to take the dental management company private. That tender offer expires Monday.

AIRLINE DEBT RATINGS FALL: Moody's Investors Service has lowered its long-term debt ratings for three of the nation's largest airlines, citing higher risks for debtholders because of the drop in airline traffic. Moody's downgraded the ratings of NWA Corp. and its Northwest Airlines subsidiary; Continental Airlines; Delta Air Lines; and ATA Holdings Corp., the parent of ATA Airlines Inc. Even if airline traffic picks up, Moody's said, pricing is expected to remain very competitive as some carriers reduce fares to generate short-term cash rather than long-term profits.

FDA GIVES ANDRX NOD: Andrx Corp. has won approval from the Food and Drug Administration for the company's generic drug for angina, a win that one analyst suggested may be "just the tip of the iceberg." Andrx announced late Thursday that it had won approval to market Taztia. Taztia is a generic version of Forest Laboratories Inc.'s Tiazac.

WAL-MART TO BUY BJ'S?: Shares of BJ's Wholesale Club Inc., the third-largest U.S. warehouse club operation, rose as much as 13 percent following a report that Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is considering a $1.4-billion takeover bid for the chain. Wal-Mart, which operates No. 2 U.S. warehouse chain Sam's Club, wants to buy BJ's for its East Coast stores, the Daily Deal reported, citing Sean Daly, president of Tower Hill Holdings Inc., which owns Wal-Mart shares. Wal-Mart spokesman Tom Williams and Cathy Maloney, a spokeswoman for BJ's, declined to comment.

AMAZONIAN SALARY: The salary of Amazon.com Inc.'s top executive Jeffrey Bezos remained at $81,840 in 2002 -- a tiny sum in the world of CEO pay -- and he received no other compensation during the year, according to a proxy statement released by the Securities and Exchange Commission on Friday. Bezos, 39, who founded the Internet retailer, declined additional compensation last year because of his substantial ownership in the company. Bezos' 108-million shares are valued at about $2.8-billion.

Earnings

Brown and Brown Inc.: The general insurer, with dual headquarters in Tampa and Daytona Beach, reported a 52 percent increase in net income for the quarter ended March 31.

First Citrus Bank: The small Tampa bank credited its rapid increase in market share for its success, posting a 462 percent increase in net income for the quarter ended March 31.

General Electric Co.: First-quarter profit rose 20 percent as a majority of its businesses posted double-digit growth in earnings.

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