AMSCOT PLANS EXPANSION: Amscot Financial, a Tampa chain known for providing money orders, payday advances, check cashing and tax preparation, plans to open 30 more branches this year. New offices are planned for Bradenton, Brooksville, Clearwater, Lakeland, Lake Wales, Largo, New Port Richey, Oldsmar, Pinellas Park, Port Richey, Valrico and Winter Haven, the company said Thursday. Amscot also is on schedule to open four branches in the Orlando area by May, with 12 more there by spring 2005. Ian MacKechnie, Amscot executive vice president, said the branches will create jobs for about 200 people.
AKERMAN GETS D.C. OFFICE: Thanks to a merger, Florida law firm Akerman Senterfitt may soon have an office in Washington, D.C., its first outside the state. Seven-office, 375-lawyer Akerman said Thursday it has an agreement in principle to acquire Katz Kutter Alderman & Bryant, a 40-lawyer group with offices in Washington, Tallahassee, Orlando and Miami. Akerman said the acquisition will strength its government relations and lobbying operations. Co-founder Allan Katz will stay on as managing partner of the offices in Washington and Tallahassee.
BAY AREA GOOD FOR BUSINESS: Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater ranked 14th on Inc. magazine's list of the nation's 25 best large metro areas in which to start a business, according to a March issue of the publication. The Manatee-Sarasota metropolitan area ranks third in Inc.'s list of the best 25 medium metro areas. Inc. examined 277 cities on job growth history, local support and affordability. Diversity of industries was also a factor in ranking the area's economic viability for entrepreneurs.
NASD CENSURES SUNSTATE: The National Association of Securities Dealers fined and censured Sunstate Equity Trading Inc. of Tampa and principals James Kelly and Joseph Kriss. The company agreed to a $10,000 fine for reporting violations, while Kelly and Kriss agreed to jointly pay a $5,000 fine for supervisory lapses. Kelly said the lapses occurred when the company was switching technology vendors and no customers were affected.
CHECKERS ESTIMATES PROFIT: Checkers Drive-In Restaurants Inc. said Thursday it expects to report earnings of 43 to 45 cents per share for the fourth quarter ended Dec. 29. Of that, 15 cents stemmed from the sale of 22 company-owned burger restaurants to a franchisee and 2 cents from an income tax benefit. Expected fourth quarter revenues of $58-million to $58.4-million benefited from an estimated 8.5 percent to 9 percent increase in same-store sales. The Tampa chain will release fourth quarter results on March 11.
ANSCHUTZ BUYS EXAMINER: Billionaire investor and Qwest Communications founder Phil Anschutz is buying the San Francisco Examiner from the Fang family, the parties announced Thursday. Financial terms were not disclosed. The Associated Press reported that Anschutz is paying $20-million for the paper, which declined in distribution from 303,000 in 1965 to 96,000 when it was sold for $1 to Florence Fang and her family by the Hearst Corp. in 2000.
NORTHWEST SHUTS TICKET OFFICES: Northwest Airlines will close its 25 city ticket offices by late March to reduce costs, following a rise in ticket sales over the Internet. The 76 employees who work in the offices will be eligible to transfer to one of the company's five reservation centers. Northwest has been trying to reduce costs by $1-billion this year to compete with lower-cost carriers.
EARNINGS
Hewlett-Packard Co.: HP's quarterly earnings jumped 30 percent and met Wall Street expectations Thursday, but analysts remained cautious about the company's ability to outperform technology giants such as Dell Inc. and IBM Corp.
Wal-Mart Stores Inc.: The world's biggest retailer, overcame a tough pre-Christmas retailing environment to post an 8.4 percent gain in its fourth quarter profit. Sales in its U.S. stores open at least a year were up 4.8 percent. Wal-Mart's earnings met the expectations of analysts surveyed by Thomson First Call.
Target Corp.: Target reported a 21 percent jump in earnings in the fourth quarter. The results beat the consensus estimate of 87 cents a share by analysts surveyed by Thomson First Call.
Nordstrom Inc.: The Seattle upscale retailer's fourth quarter income surged 74 percent. Results handily topped the average analyst estimate of 66 cents a share, according to Thomson First Call.
