AFTER STRIKE, PRICE WAR: Albertson's Inc., Safeway Inc. and Kroger Co. will likely engage in a pricing and promotions war to lure back customers lost to competitors during the 41/2-month supermarket strike, the longest in U.S. history. The United Food and Commercial Workers union said its 70,000 grocery workers at 860 stores would likely ratify the contract this weekend. "I can say with confidence that this is an agreement that both sides can live with," said Ellen Anreder, a union spokeswoman in Los Angeles. The union struck Safeway's Vons and Pavilions stores Oct. 11. Albertson's and Kroger's Ralphs chain locked out union members the next day.
COKE GETS FEDERAL SUBPOENAS: The Coca-Cola Co. said Friday it has received grand jury subpoenas as part of federal prosecutors' 71/2-month criminal fraud investigation of the world's largest beverage maker. Coke made the disclosure in its annual report filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. It also said it has provided "substantial documents and other information to the SEC" following informal requests to do so. Coke said no criminal charges or civil enforcement actions have been filed in the case, though it said it "cannot predict whether any such actions will be filed in the future."
NYLIFE SETTLES FOR $16-MILLION: New York Life Insurance Co. said it agreed to pay $16-million to settle claims that it didn't provide fair pension benefits to thousands of sales agents. The insurer also agreed to allow a greater number of employees to qualify for a better pension package normally reserved for agents who have been with the company for more than 20 years. Some agents who have left the company will be entitled to submit claims for the compensation, said Michael Lieder, an attorney for the plaintiffs. The settlement will be paid to about 3,000 former agents, as well as for attorneys' fees.
DONNELLEY COMPLETES ACQUISITION: R.R. Donnelley & Sons Co., the printer of TV Guide and Sports Illustrated, said it has completed its $3.2-billion acquisition of Moore Wallace Inc. to form North America's biggest commercial printing company. Shareholders approved the combination and the companies have received all regulatory clearances in both countries, Donnelley said. Standard & Poor's Ratings Services reduced ratings on Donnelley's long-term debt to A- from A and on its short-term debt to A-2 from A-1 following the completion of the transaction.
BLACK MAY FACE FRAUD CASE: Conrad Black may have participated in a fraud when as chairman of Hollinger International Inc. he and three associates paid themselves $15.6-million and funneled millions more to a separate company he controls, a judge said. The payments, which totaled $32.2-million, have already forced Black's resignation as Hollinger's chief executive and prompted a lawsuit by the Securities and Exchange Commission. To Delaware Chancery Court Judge Leo Strine, who yesterday blocked Black from selling his controlling stake in Hollinger, the actions bordered on criminal.
OUSTED ANALYST BACK AS CONSULTANT: Former Citigroup Inc. telecommunications analyst Jack Grubman has been hired as a "strategic consultant" for Distinctive Devices Inc., a developer of digital television software and set-top box technology, the company said. The money-losing company's shares rose 20 percent after the news was disclosed. The job is Grubman's first with a public company since he was barred from the securities industry last year. Grubman, 50, was fined $15-million and barred for life from the industry after New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer called Grubman's research on AT&T Corp. "fraudulent." Grubman neither admitted nor denied wrongdoing.
AOL DROPS BROADBAND DEAL: America Online Inc. has quietly stopped offering a complete broadband package, requiring subscribers instead to obtain their high-speed Internet connections directly from a cable modem or DSL provider. The reversal in strategy stands as another black mark against the wisdom of the $160-billion merger between America Online and Time Warner. The decision to stop selling bundled service - an AOL-branded cable or DSL connection combined with AOL's walled garden of content - follows a strategic realignment that began in December 2002, AOL spokeswoman Anne Bentley said Friday.
FORT MYERS FUND SUED BY SEC: KS Advisors of Fort Myers bilked customers out of $10-million and lied about profits and the values of its hedge funds, according to a lawsuit filed by the Securities and Exchange Commission. The investment company also charged fraudulent fees and undisclosed advisory fees, the SEC said Friday. U.S. District Judge John E. Steele issued emergency orders against the company and its principals, Scott Fine and Kevin Boyle. Among the orders were asset freezes against the company and its two hedge funds - KS Condor Partners Ltd. and Damian Partners LLC.
AIRLINES RAISE PRICES AGAIN: Continental Airlines led rivals in raising round trip ticket prices by $10 to help cover "persistently high" fuel costs that have increased as much as 49 percent since September. Fuel prices are the highest the carrier has seen, and fares last year were the lowest since 1994, CFO Jeff Misner said. American Airlines and Delta Air Lines matched the increase while Northwest Airlines followed on less than a fifth of its fares. Continental, American and United Airlines canceled an increase last month initiated by American when other carriers didn't follow. The biggest airlines are under pressure to lower prices as discount carriers expand.
EARNINGS
State Farm Insurance: Higher premiums and lower claims helped State Farm Insurance turn a $2.8-billion profit in 2003, reversing two straight years of multibillion-dollar losses for the nation's largest insurer. Analysts said the turnaround mirrors a trend in the insurance industry, which has bumped up premiums to compensate for investment income that sagged in 2001 and 2002 because of a stock market downturn and low interest rates.
Royal Bank of Canada: Canada's largest lender said first quarter profit rose 3.4 percent, driven by fees from investment banking and mutual funds. But the bank had its first quarterly loss in three years in the United States, where it gets almost a third of revenue.
