MICROSOFT EXPECTS $613-MILLION FINE: European antitrust regulators will fine Microsoft $613-million Wednesday when it rules that the company abused its monopoly in computer operating systems, the New York Times reported, citing unnamed people close to the company. The fine, set late last week after settlement talks with Microsoft broke down, was endorsed by national regulators from the 15 member nations of the European Union on Monday. Microsoft said the fine was too big. "In view of the absence of a clear legal standard under EU law, a fine of this size isn't warranted," said Tom Brookes, the company's spokesman in Brussels.
GENSHAFT TAKES CHAIRMANSHIP: University of South Florida president Judy Genshaft formally became the 2004 chairman of the Greater Tampa Chamber of Commerce's Committee of 100 at the group's 50th anniversary dinner Monday. Genshaft said she will focus much of her effort on increasing the role bioscience companies play in the area's economic future. The Tampa chamber's Committee of 100 is responsible for recruiting new businesses and expanding existing ones. Outgoing chairman is Randy Simmons of R.R. Simmons Corp.
SAND KEY GETS 4TH DIAMOND: The Sheraton Sand Key Resort in Clearwater has been upgraded to four-diamond status in the 2004 AAA ratings. While the Tampa Bay area again has no top-tier five-diamond hotels, the Sheraton joins five other local properties that retained their four-diamond ratings. The others are the Don CeSar Resort and Spa, Hyatt Regency Westshore, Renaissance Vinoy Resort, TradeWinds Grand Beach Resort and the Sunset Bay Inn Bed and Breakfast in St. Petersburg.
NAPLES BANK BUYS INTO ORLANDO: First National Bankshares of Florida, a Naples bank active in the Tampa Bay area, said Monday it is buying Southern Community Bancorp. for about $226-million. Southern Community, based in Orlando, has about $984-million in assets and $852-million in deposits in 18 branches. The deal bolsters First National's presence in Orlando and adds customers on Florida's east coast. First National is exchanging 1.62 shares of its stock for each share of Southern Community.
FUNDS SEEK DISNEY DISCUSSION: The California Public Employees' Retirement System and five other pension funds sent Walt Disney Co. chairman George Mitchell a letter requesting an immediate meeting with Disney's board to discuss "performance and governance concerns." The California State Teachers' Retirement System and pension funds in New York, Ohio, Connecticut and North Carolina joined CalPERS. Disney CEO Michael Eisner failed to receive the support of 43 percent of voting shareholders for his re-election to Disney's board at the company's annual meeting March 3. Eisner then relinquished his chairmanship to Mitchell.
AIRLINES CONFIRM SUBPOENAS: Spokesmen for US Airways, United Airlines and America West confirmed Monday that their companies have received government subpoenas that reportedly are part of a U.S. Treasury Department investigation into the board that provides federal loan guarantees to domestic carriers. The airlines said they are cooperating fully, but they declined to elaborate. According to the New York Times, Treasury Department investigators have asked several airlines to turn over records of their dealings with the Air Transportation Stabilization Board in 2002 and 2003.
T-BILL RATES MIXED: The Treasury Department sold $18-billion in three-month securities Monday at a discount rate of 0.930 percent, down from 0.945 percent last week. An additional $16-billion was sold in six-month bills at a rate of 0.990 percent, unchanged from last week. The average yield for one-year constant-maturity Treasury bills rose to 1.18 percent last week from 1.16 percent the week before.
CHANGE AT FREDDIE MAC SOUGHT: Freddie Mac shareholders should vote to oust company auditor PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, interim chairman Shaun O'Malley and three other directors on the board's audit committee, the California Public Employees' Retirement System said. CalPERS called for the expulsions when the company holds its annual meeting March 31, saying the audit committee authorized $393,000 in tax advice and other work by the accounting firm unrelated to audits last year. "This has potential for conflicts of interest and can lead to questionable audits, and we rely on the accuracy of those audits," CalPERS spokesman Brad Pacheco said.
TYCO JURORS REVIEW TESTIMONY: Jurors in the trial of former Tyco International officers L. Dennis Kozlowski and Mark Swartz asked Monday for a readback of former CFO Swartz's testimony about a $12.5-million loan that was forgiven. The jury, in its third day of deliberations in state Supreme Court in Manhattan, is weighing whether Swartz and former CEO Kozlowski looted the company of $600-million. Swartz and Kozlowski are charged with 32 counts of grand larceny, falsifying business records and violating state business laws. They each face 30 years in prison if convicted. Jurors were to continue deliberating today.
EARNINGS:
Walgreen Co.: Another quarter of soaring prescription drug sales lifted the nation's largest drugstore chain to a 17 percent profit increase in the second quarter. Walgreen's earnings came in slightly below Wall Street's high expectations Tuesday and its stock fell 2 percent.
Carnival Corp. & PLC: The world's largest cruise company reported a 60 percent rise in first-quarter earnings Monday because of its merger last year, the addition of new ships to its fleet and a recovery from the slowdown caused by terrorism and the Iraq war. Because of Carnival's merger with Britain's P&O Princess Cruises PLC, completed last April, it recorded $749-million in new revenues. Reported earnings of 25 cents a share beat the 22 cents estimated by Wall Street analysts surveyed by Thomson First Call.
