HOSPITAL HAS NEW CHIEF: IASIS Healthcare Corp has named Todd Mann chief executive officer of its Palms of Pasadena Hospital in South Pasadena. Mann previously held the same position at Mid-Jefferson Hospital in Texas, another IASIS facility. He replaced Bruce Baldwin, who had been CEO, according to public records. Hospital spokeswoman Kathy Campbell had refused to divulge Baldwin's name, saying the former CEO "had only been there for two years," and the organization wanted to move on "to new and exciting things." IASIS of Franklin, Tenn., also owns Town and Country Hospital in Tampa and Memorial Hospital of Tampa.
RECORD FLA. ORANGE CROP SEEN: Florida orange growers will produce their largest crop ever this season, an unwelcome prospect for an industry struggling with low prices and declining demand, agricultural forecasters said Friday. The Florida Agricultural Statistics Service predicted Florida growers would produce 252-million boxes of oranges during the 2003-2004 season, an almost 25 percent increase over last season's 203-million boxes. Each box holds about 90 pounds of oranges. The previous record high was 244-million boxes during the 1997-98 season.
SEC SUES WAKSAL'S FATHER: The Securities and Exchange Commission sued the father of former drug-company executive Sam Waksal on Friday for insider trading, saying the father sold more than $8-million of stock based on a tip from his son. The charges against Jack Waksal, 82, were made in a lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Manhattan, where Sam Waksal pleaded guilty a year ago to securities fraud for tipping his daughter to dump ImClone Systems Inc. stock just before a negative government report was issued; he is now in federal prison. The SEC also seeks in court papers to force Sam Waksal's sister, Patti Waksal, to give back profits from 1,336 ImClone shares that the SEC said her father sold improperly for her. The SEC did not accuse her of violating securities laws herself.
Z-TEL SUES SBC: Z-Tel Technologies Inc. of Tampa said Friday that it sued SBC Communications Inc. in a federal court in Texas, alleging that SBC denied Z-Tel the ability to provide phone services in SBC markets and that it submitted fake bills to Z-Tel for services that hadn't been ordered or received. Z-Tel said it is seeking damages and an injunction against SBC.
CEO TO RETIRE AFTER DIVORCE: Ernst & Young, the world's fourth- biggest accounting firm, said global chief executive Richard Bobrow, whose divorce case opened much of the firm's private financial information to the public, is retiring after 15 months in the job. He'll be replaced by James Turley, now Ernst & Young's chairman and CEO for the Americas. The company also said 2003 fiscal year revenue rose 30 percent to $13-billion. Ernst's revenue increased as it absorbed clients and staff from Arthur Andersen LLP, which disintegrated last year.
COUNTRYSIDE STOCK RISES: Stock in mortgage banker Countrywide Financial Corp. of Calabasas, Calif., rose Friday after an analyst increased his earnings projections and said the company would be an attractive acquisition for a large bank. Jonathan E. Gray of Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. in New York said in a research note to clients Friday morning that he now expects Countrywide to earn $14.05 a share this year and $13 a share next year, compared with the average analyst estimates of $13.99 and $11.63 for the same periods. Shares of Countrywide closed at $94 - up $8.25, or 9.6 percent, on the New York Stock Exchange.
IBM, CISCO WORKING ON PROBLEM-FIXING: International Business Machines Corp. and Cisco Systems Inc. are working on a set of standards for a common language to detect and resolve computer system problems. IBM of Armonk, N.Y., the world's largest computermaker, has started integrating the technologies in its products, said spokesman Michael Loughran. The so-called self-healing technology allows computer networks to detect and resolve technical glitches and diagnose the cause of a problem, the companies said.
QWEST CONFIRMS INQUIRY: Qwest Communications International Inc. of Denver, which overstated revenue by $2.47-billion, said a federal grand jury is examining whether former executives steered business to suppliers in exchange for shares in the companies' initial public offerings. The investigation centers on agreements with equipment suppliers, including Tellium Inc., which disclosed the inquiry in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing. Tyler Gronbach, a spokesman for Qwest, the fourth-largest U.S. local-telephone company, confirmed the grand jury proceedings, which were earlier reported by the Wall Street Journal.
EARNINGS
General Electric Co.: GE's earnings fell 11 percent in the third quarter as lower gas turbine and aircraft engine sales and an accounting charge weakened profits. The Fairfield, Conn., conglomerate warned that its earnings for the current quarter may come in lower than expected.
GE also announced Friday that it has agreed to another big acquisition: a $9.5-billion deal for Amersham PLC, a British medical diagnostics company.
Peoples Florida Banking: The parent company of Peoples Bank of Palm Harbor, which is being bought by Synovus of Columbus, Ga., reported a 24 percent increase in net income for the third quarter ended Sept. 30.
- Compiled from Times staff, wire and Bloomberg News reports.
