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ATA GOES TO LaGUARDIA: ATA Airlines said it will offer nonstop service from St. Petersburg-Clearwater International Airport to New York-LaGuardia once a day beginning May 1. Beginning June 1, ATA also will offer seasonal service to San Juan, Puerto Rico three times a week. Pricing for the LaGuardia flight will begin at $78.14 one way, according to ATA.com.
FACTORY OUTPUT UP IN FEBRUARY: Big industry production rose by 0.7 percent in February. The increase in output at the nation's factories, mines and utilities came after a 0.8 percent jump in activity in January, the Federal Reserve reported Monday. Last month's industrial production performance was better than the 0.4 percent increase that some economists were forecasting. Gains were widespread in February, with production rising for automotive products, home electronics, business equipment, machinery, food products and chemicals.
DIGITAL LIGHTWAVE ADDS DIRECTOR: Digital Lightwave has filled a key vacancy on its board of directors, putting the company back in compliance with Nasdaq listing standards. The troubled Clearwater maker of fiber-optic testing equipment said Monday that it had appointed Jeffrey S. Chisholm as both a board director and audit committee chairman. Nasdaq requires that a listed company's audit committee be composed solely of outside directors. The company has been out of compliance since the end of 2003, when management professor William F. Hamilton resigned from the board and as audit committee chairman. Chisholm, an independent consultant since 2001 and chairman of Dexit Inc., specializes in corporate turnarounds and brand building.
EU READIES MICROSOFT RULING: The European Union's antitrust chief won critical backing Monday for a ruling that would force Microsoft Corp. to strip its Windows computer operating system of a lucrative component and make other changes. A closed-door session with representatives of the 15 EU governments ended with unanimous backing of the European Commission's draft decision, said commission spokeswoman Amelia Torres. The draft, which would fine Microsoft up to $3-billion and force the company to strip Media Player from its flagship operating system in Europe, is tentatively set to be adopted next week.
NORTHWEST PILOTS CUT SOME: Union leaders for Northwest Airlines pilots have voted to cut pilot labor costs by $200-million a year through 2006, or about half what the airline sought from the union. Representatives of the Air Line Pilots Association International for Northwest voted unanimously Sunday to recommend the deal to its 6,300 NWA pilots. The details of the proposal will be made public after they are presented to rank-and-file pilots, who would then be given a chance to respond. Northwest officials had no comment.
GASOLINE CONSUMPTION RISES: Despite record high gasoline prices, U.S. motorists continue to increase consumption and, with supplies tight, that is helping to keep fuel costs propped up. The Energy Department reported Monday that gasoline demand has been roughly 3.7 percent higher than last year. At the same time, gasoline supplies are 1.2 percent below year-ago levels at 220.4-million barrels. Average daily gasoline consumption for the month ended March 5 was about 8.9-million barrels, up from 8.5-million barrels a year earlier.
CENDANT SPINS OFF JACKSON HEWITT: Cendant Corp., the real estate and travel services company, plans to spin off its Jackson Hewitt tax preparation unit next quarter, raising as much as $100-million in an initial public offering, so the company can focus on its more profitable businesses. The price and number of shares to be offered haven't yet been determined, Cendant said in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Goldman, Sachs & Co. and J.P. Morgan Securities Inc. will manage the sale. Jackson Hewitt is the second-largest U.S. tax preparation company.
EDS SELLS SOFTWARE UNIT: Electronic Data Systems Corp. announced Monday it is selling its product design software business to Bain Capital LLC of Boston, Silver Lake Partners LP of Menlo Park, Calif., and Warburg Pincus LLC of New York for $2.05-billion. The sale of UGS PLM Solutions ends the company's three-year stint in the software development industry and puts EDS a step closer to its goal of zero net debt by the end of 2004, said EDS spokesman Sean Healy. UGS PLM Solutions, based at EDS's Plano, Texas, headquarters, makes product design and development software.
TALLAHASSEE BANKS REOPEN: The five offices of Guaranty National Bank of Tallahassee, which failed and was closed by federal regulators Friday, reopened Monday under government supervision as branches of the new Hancock Bank of Florida. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. was named receiver of Guaranty National after the Treasury Department's Office of the Comptroller of the Currency said it found substantial legal violations and serious loss of assets because of unsafe practices, including bad decisions on extending credit. Losses were estimated at more than $4-million in 2003 and $2-million in 2002. Depositors of Guaranty National automatically become depositors of the newly chartered Hancock Bank.
FOURTH OF EMPLOYERS PLAN TO HIRE: Roughly one in four employers plan to add workers in the second quarter of the year to keep pace with increased demand, according to a survey of 16,000 businesses by Manpower Inc. Substantial job growth will come if companies meet their hiring projections, said Jeffrey Joerres, Manpower's CEO and chairman. The survey suggests 28 percent of companies expect to hire more people in the second quarter, while 6 percent intend to cut jobs. The rest anticipate no change or are uncertain about hiring prospects from April to May.
BELLSOUTH TO CUT 778 JOBS: BellSouth Corp. plans to eliminate 778 more positions by the end of June, citing low work volume. BellSouth spokeswoman LeAnn Hansen said the largest number of cuts, 296, will come in Georgia. The rest will be spread among the other eight Southeastern states. Laid-off workers will be able to reapply for 540 non-management open positions in the company, Hansen said. Since 2000, BellSouth has shed about a fifth of its work force, amid a scramble to slash costs. It now has about 75,700 workers, down from more than 92,000.
T-BILL RATES TICK UP: The Treasury Department sold $18-billion in three-month securities at a discount rate of 0.945 percent, up from 0.930 percent last week. An additional $16-billion was sold in six-month bills at a rate of 0.990 percent, up from 0.975 percent. The average yield for one-year constant maturity Treasury bills fell to 1.16 percent last week from 1.23 percent the previous week.
EARNINGS:Dollar General Corp.: The discount retailer's profits fell 4.9 percent in the fourth quarter of 2003, in part because of costs related to a restatement of earnings. But the results reported Monday still topped Wall Street expectations. The company also announced an agreement in principle with the Securities and Exchange Commission to pay $10-million to settle an investigation relating to the company's restatement of 1998 and 1999 financial statements and certain unaudited financial information for fiscal year 2000.
ImClone Systems Inc.: The biotech company that won Food and Drug Administration approval for its Erbitux colon cancer drug last month reported a narrower fourth quarter loss as revenue rose and research and development expenses fell. Last week, ImClone received a $250-million milestone payment from marketing partner Bristol-Myers Squibb Co.