VERIZON WIRELESS WARNS CONSUMERS: Verizon Wireless warned Wednesday that consumers in several states have reported receiving phone calls from scam artists promising free Verizon Wireless service and a free cell phone in exchange for the person's bank account information. No cases have been reported in Florida, but consumers are advised never to provide bank account or credit card information to any caller with whom they are not familiar.
MITSUBISHI ADMITS SAFETY DEFECTS: Mitsubishi Motors admitted Wednesday it had failed for years to inform safety regulators fully about defects in vehicles manufactured over the past decade. The company said it would recall 163,000 vehicles, mostly in Japan, to make repairs on 26 defects, including problems with engines and fuel tanks. The recall covers 17 models of Mitsubishi vehicles, including the Galant and Lancer sedans, made from 1993 to 2000. Of the 163,000 vehicles that the company is recalling, 156,000 were sold in Japan. The company did not say how many were sold in the United States.
HEALTHSOUTH EX-EXECS GET HOUSE ARREST: Malcolm "Tadd" McVay, a former HealthSouth Corp. CFO, and Richard Botts, a former senior vice president for taxes, were sentenced Wednesday to six months of house arrest for their part in a multibillion-dollar accounting scandal. The two also were given five years of probation and fined $10,000. Botts was ordered to forfeit $265,000 in ill-gotten gains, while McVay was told to give back $50,000. McVay pleaded guilty to charges that included conspiracy to commit fraud. Botts admitted filing false tax forms to hide the fraud.
FAST-FOOD OPERATOR REORGANIZES: Fast-food chain operator AFC Enterprises Inc. said Wednesday it is converting to a holding company format even as it explores the sale of its Church's Chicken chain and considers options for its Cinnabon baked-goods unit. The company also said it will reapply Wednesday for listing on the Nasdaq Stock Market. Shares of AFC currently trade on the over-the-counter market. They closed unchanged at $21 Wednesday. Should AFC divest itself of Church's and Cinnabon, it would have only one remaining unit, Popeyes Chicken & Biscuits.
UAL CUTTING RETIREES' BENEFITS: UAL Corp., the parent of bankrupt United Airlines, is seeking to make permanent reductions in medical benefits for 27,000 retirees, including former pilots and flight attendants, over their objections, lawyers for the former employees told a bankruptcy judge. United has said it needs to make benefit cuts to allow it to exit from bankruptcy court protection later this year. The airline claims the cuts will save UAL $57-million annually. The airline has reached an agreement with its mechanics to cut retiree medical benefits. A hearing is scheduled June 11 in Chicago.
SAM'S CLUB OFFERS WEB ACCESS: Sam's Club warehouse stores are offering Internet services including developing Web sites to small businesses as it competes for customers with Costco Wholesale Corp. The Web site program's prices start at $5 a month, Sam's Club parent Wal-Mart said. The service will enable users to offer e-mail and online sales, Wal-Mart said. About 70 percent of small businesses don't have a Web site because they say it's too expensive or time consuming, Wal-Mart said.
JURY TELLS FORD TO PAY $112-MILLION: A San Diego jury ordered Ford Motor Co. to pay at least $122-million to a woman paralyzed in a rollover accident, the first setback in a string of lawsuits involving the Ford Explorer, the nation's best-selling sport utility vehicle. Ford has won 11 rollover lawsuits involving the Explorer, a company spokeswoman said. The final award could be much higher. The award issued late Tuesday covered only compensatory damages. The jury began deliberations Wednesday on punitive damages. Ford said it will appeal.
VERIZON CUTS PRICE OF DSL: Verizon Communications cut the price of high-speed Internet access for businesses by as much as 33 percent as part of a strategy to win customers from cable operators. The price of so-called digital subscriber line service was reduced to $59.95 to $79.95 a month from $89.95 to $119.95, Verizon said. The company also tripled the speed at which users can send pictures and other information over the Internet.
ENTREPRENEUR STARTS WIRELESS BROADBAND: Craig McCaw, a wireless entrepreneur with a mixed record, is launching Clearwire Inc., a wireless broadband service, in two cities this summer, St. Cloud, Minn., and Jacksonville. The company is also testing equipment in Mexico City and Vancouver, British Columbia, and Ottawa. Its pitch is high-speed Internet with a 5-minute installation that can be used anywhere in the service area, including cars and trains. The company said prices could be $80 to $90 a month.
HEARING BEGINS ON ENRON PLAN: Enron Corp.'s 900-page road map to emerge from one of the most expensive and complicated bankruptcies in U.S. history is ready for U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Arthur Gonzalez in New York to give it a thumb's-up. What is expected to be a weeklong hearing on the reorganization plan begins today. Fewer than 10 objections of about 100 filed remain unresolved in regard to the framework that proposes to pay most creditors about one-fifth of the approximately $66.4-billion they are owed in cash and stock. Creditors certified the plan last week.
EARNINGS
Aeroosonic Corp.: The Clearwater aircraft instrument maker's sales declined nearly 19 percent in the quarter ended April 30 compared with a year ago because of fewer product deliveries.
Albertsons Inc.: The Southern California labor dispute that ended in early March contributed to a 79 percent drop in first-quarter earnings for the nation's second-largest food and drug retailer. Earnings were well above analysts' estimates.
