TAMPA HILTON CHANGES HANDS: Highland Hospitality Corp. of McLean, Va., said Friday it has purchased the 238-room Hilton Tampa Westshore hotel. Highland paid $29.5-million, which includes the assumption of a $17-million mortgage. Highland bought the hotel on N Lois Avenue near International Plaza from RLJ Development, headed by Black Entertainment Television founder Robert L. Johnson. The hotel will continue to carry the Hilton brand.
FORD LOWERS EXPECTATIONS: Ford Motor Co. expects a wave of new products and continued cost savings to increase profits in 2004, but indicated Friday its earnings could fall below the consensus Wall Street earnings forecast. The automaker said it anticipates 2004 earnings per share of $1.20 to $1.30, excluding special items, and said that equates to a pretax profit of $3.5-billion to $3.8-billion. The consensus forecast of analysts surveyed by Thomson First Call was for earnings of $1.30 a share, up from $1.10 a share in 2003.
MILAN BofA OFFICES SEARCHED: A top Parmalat official wanted by prosecutors investigating the company's multibillion-dollar fraud scandal surrendered to police Friday after returning to Italy from Venezuela. In a new twist, police searched Bank of America offices in Milan, seizing documents and questioning a bank manager. The Associated Press quoted an unnamed judicial source in Milan as saying police searched the Bank of America offices and home of Luca Sala, the former head of corporate banking for the bank's Italian branch.
BUYERS LINE UP FOR STRONG: Investors took out nearly $1.6-billion from mutual funds managed by embattled Strong Financial Corp. in December, Strong spokesman Drew Wineland said. Both Strong Financial Corp. and its founder, Richard Strong, are under investigation for alleged improper fund trading by federal and state regulators. Also Friday, the New York Times reported that about a dozen companies have signaled their intention to bid as much as $900-million for Strong Financial's assets. The company announced it was for sale in December.
MESABA PILOTS THREATEN STRIKE: Mesaba Airlines, the regional carrier that funnels passengers to Northwest Airlines' hubs from Memphis to Minneapolis, began canceling some flights Friday as a threatened pilot strike drew near. A 30-day cooling-off period was to end at 12:01 a.m. today. Pilots have said they will strike if a deal isn't reached by then. Though talks continued, Mesaba canceled 48 flights scheduled for Friday evening so planes would not be stranded by a strike.
AOL LOSES ADVERTISING EXEC: The executive in charge of America Online's beleaguered advertising sales unit is leaving the company less than one year after taking the job, a company spokesman said Friday. Lisa Brown had been AOL's executive vice president for interactive marketing, which put her in charge of advertising sales. Brown was appointed to the post in May by AOL chief executive Jon Miller, who had previously worked with her at USA Interactive, now InterActiveCorp.
ENRON PLAN GETS 5 MONTHS: Enron Corp. is getting five more months to conduct a vote on its reorganization plan, pushing a deadline on the issue through the end of May. U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Arthur Gonzalez, in a ruling this week, said the delay would give Enron extra time to settle with more creditors who still may be opposed to the reorganization plan.
CLEAR CHANNEL SUBPOENAED: Clear Channel Communications Inc. and a number of other media companies have been issued subpoenas as a part of a probe into advertising by illegal gaming Web sites. The radio giant received the subpoena in September from federal prosecutors in St. Louis seeking information on commercial advertising aired on behalf of Web-based gambling businesses, including sports bookmaking and casino-style gaming, that are based in other countries. Clear Channel of San Antonio, Texas, which said it is cooperating with federal officials, disclosed information about the subpoena in filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
FEUERSTEIN WINS LOAN GUARANTEE: Aaron Feuerstein's roller coaster quest to regain control of the Malden Mills textile company got a boost when a key lender increased its financial commitment. But it wasn't clear if the offer will be enough to let Feuerstein regain control of the company, which owns the Polartec brand and was founded by his grandfather a century ago. The Export-Import Bank of the United States increased its loan guarantee from $20-million to $35-million - the minimum Feuerstein said he needed to support a finance package that would include developing apartments at the site of the Lawrence, Mass., factory.
RITE AID DEMOTES CFO: Rite Aid Corp. has demoted its chief financial officer after he agreed to a preliminary settlement of a Securities and Exchange Commission inquiry regarding his activities while employed by another company nearly six years ago. Rite Aid's board voted to replace the executive, Chris Hall, 39, after it reviewed details of the proposed settlement, a company spokeswoman said. Hall is staying at the drugstore chain operator in another capacity. "We did it as a matter of good corporate governance," spokeswoman Karen Rugen said. "We didn't want our shareholders to have any concerns about the company."
UNITED DROPS 8,000 POLICIES: United HealthCare has decided not to renew the 8,000 policies of its individual health customers and instead has offered coverage by a newly acquired out-of-state company not subject to most Florida regulations, state insurance officials said Wednesday. Policyholders affected by the decision who have had at least 18 months of continuous coverage when their policies terminate are eligible for guaranteed-issue policies from any other company that is writing individual coverage in Florida. But the rate is not guaranteed, the officials said.
SIMON FORECASTS PROFIT: Simon Property Group Inc., which owns Tyrone Square Mall in St. Petersburg and DeSoto Square Mall in Bradenton, said 2004 net income will increase as much as 25 percent as the real estate investment trust adds properties in Italy and Texas. Net income this year will increase to $1.72 a share to $1.80 a share from a range of $1.41 to $1.44 in 2003, said Shelly Doran, a spokeswoman for the company.
