BREED SHEDS JOBS: Breed Technologies Inc. said it will move its headquarters from Lakeland to suburban Detroit, reducing its corporate staff from 290 to 60 people in the process. Breed plans to keep its Lakeland manufacturing facility, which employs about 300 people making automotive parts. The company will cut about 3,500 jobs worldwide as part of a restructuring related to its recent acquisition by the Carlyle Management Group in Dallas. Breed also will get a new name, as yet undetermined, that will reflect its position as part of Carlyle's Key Automotive Group.
TENET CEO GOES: The board of Tenet Healthcare Corp. has replaced the hospital chain's chief executive and started a search for a successor who will restore investor confidence in the troubled company. Chairman and chief executive Jeffrey C. Barbakow submitted his resignation after the board met by phone Friday and decided to seek new leadership - a decision Barbakow agreed to, the company said Tuesday. The board appointed Tenet's president, Trevor Fetter, 43, as acting CEO of the nation's second-largest for-profit hospital chain.
NASD FINES INTERSECURITIES: The National Association of Securities Dealers censured InterSecurities Inc. of St. Petersburg and fined the brokerage firm $125,000. The association said InterSecurities had inadequate procedures for sale of variable products and handling of customer complaints. An affiliate, Western Reserve Life Assurance Co. of Ohio, handled complaints, some of which were not reported to the NASD as required. Both companies are part of AEGON Insurance Group.
MAZDA TO END MILLENIA: Japanese automaker Mazda Motor Corp. is dropping its Millenia luxury model to concentrate on small and mid-size cars and minivans, Japan's leading business daily reported Tuesday. Company spokesman Katsumi Yoshitake declined comment. Millenia sales have lagged in Japan, where they are produced, totaling just 1,300 last year. Millenia sales in the United States totaled 18,000 vehicles last year. Mazda's overall sales have rebounded lately on the success of the RX-8 sportscar; Demio subcompact, sold as the Mazda2 in Europe; and Atenza sedan, sold as the Mazda6 in the United States.
AT&T TO PACKAGE SERVICES: AT&T Corp., the biggest U.S. long-distance telephone provider, will start selling a package of services that includes mobile calling from AT&T Wireless Services Inc., a company it spun off in 2001. Terms weren't disclosed. The service package will be offered nationwide by year's end, spokesman Gary Morgenstern said. AT&T wants to sell partners' products to win and keep customers, after abandoning a plan to sell phone, wireless and cable service from under the same roof in 2000.
1-YEAR T-BILLS DIP: The average yield for one-year Treasury bills, a popular index for making changes in adjustable rate mortgages, dipped last week to 1.13 percent, compared with 1.20 percent for the week ending May 16. Separately, the Treasury Department said it would conduct its weekly auction of three-month and six-month Treasury bills today.
