BRIGHT HOUSE STARTS ON-DEMAND FEATURE: Bright House Networks, the dominant cable company in the Tampa Bay region, is starting a new service for its digital cable subscribers, and this one is free. Favorites on Demand, starting on Channel 340, allows viewers to watch programming from some networks when they want, not on the channels' regular schedule. Among the participating networks are Arts & Entertainment, CNN, Comedy Central, Do It Yourself, the Food Network and Home and Garden.
CHECKERS TO REPURCHASE STOCK: Checkers Drive-In Restaurants Inc. said its board approved a plan to repurchase up to 1.2-million shares of company stock. As of Oct. 6, Checkers had 11.2-million shares of common stock outstanding. Its stock price rose 7 percent Wednesday to close at $12.27.
NEW BANK FORMS IN APOLLO BEACH: A group of business leaders headed by Mercantile Bank executive Larry Tracy are forming a new bank in Apollo Beach called SouthShore Community Bank. In addition to Tracy, who most recently was senior vice president and branch manager of Mercantile Bank in Tampa, the organizing board includes George Greenwell, Ronald Knight, Thomas Looker, Harold Ott, Robert Phillips, Gary Queen, Jack Sizemore, Glenda Spencer, Crispin Stout, Mary Beth Sultenfuss and Robert Tronu Jr. Kendrick, Pierce & Co., which filed an application for the bank on behalf of the organizers, said SouthShore is expected to open in the late first quarter or early second quarter of 2005.
LINCARE SHARES JUMP: Shares of Lincare Holdings Inc. of Clearwater, Apria Healthcare Group and other respiratory drug suppliers jumped after Medicare said in a letter that raising monthly dispensing fees to a certain range would be reasonable. Mark McClellan, who directs the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, wrote that a federal report found the cost of dispensing inhaled drugs varied widely and the agency would consider fees of about $55 to $64 a patient. William Bonello, a Wachovia Securities analyst in Minneapolis, said in a note he had estimated a 2005 fee of $30 to $40 a month. Shares of Lincare gained $5.68, or 18 percent, to $36.99.
PENSION FUNDS WANT TO NOMINATE DISNEY DIRECTORS: Four major pension funds, including the California Public Employees' Retirement System, said Tuesday they will push for shareholders to be able to nominate up to two directors to The Walt Disney Co.'s 11-member board of directors. Their proposal, filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, would be a way to hold the board of directors more accountable to shareholders, the funds says. If passed by a majority of shareholders, it would go into effect at the 2006 meeting. The pension funds combined own more than 18-million shares of Disney stock.
PAYPAL WORKING AGAIN: Most members of the online payment service Paypal should be able to log on to the Web site after five days of intermittent service outages and furious repair efforts, the company said. PayPal made "good progress" in restoring service by the peak evening usage hours, the eBay Inc.-owned company said late Tuesday. PayPal is a common method of payment for buyers on eBay and is gaining in popularity among customers of other online retailers and in money transactions between individuals in the off-line world.
SEC CONDUCTS CIRCULATION PROBE: The Securities and Commission is conducting an investigation into circulation reporting in the newspaper industry after several disclosures of fraudulent practices in recent months. Catherine Mathis of the New York Times said Wednesday the SEC is taking an "industrywide look" at circulation practices, but she declined to be more specific about the inquiry. She said the newspaper stood by its circulation reporting. The Washington Post Co. also said it had received a letter from the SEC saying the agency was reviewing circulation reporting methods, and that it had complied with a request to provide information. The SEC declined to comment on whether any such investigation was under way.
MARTHA STEWART EXPANDS LINE: Martha Stewart's media and merchandising company said Wednesday it plans to expand its furniture line amid strong demand from consumers. The company's merchandising operations, mainly fueled by Kmart sales, have held up well compared with its magazine and television divisions, which have been reeling since Stewart's name became tainted by a stock trading scandal. Martha Stewart Living and Bernhardt Furniture Co., a closely held furniture maker in Lenoir, N.C., plan to add 43 furniture items to their existing line. The items will be available at furniture retailers nationwide, beginning in March.
COLOR IPOD ON THE WAY: Apple is working on a color version of the iPod, its hugely successful portable digital music player, which sources close to the company say could hit the shelves for Christmas. The new iPod is understood to offer far more than the simple music playback and data storage capacity of the current models and is likely to be priced at about $499. A color screen will be used to display photos, rather than the existing mono screen, which displays music track listings. The device could store about 25,000 photos and 20,000 music tracks.
COMPANY MOVING JOBS TO TAMPA: Computer Associates International Inc. last week informed about 45 workers in its inside channel sales division in Islandia that their jobs were being moved to an expanding call center in Tampa. "Many" will be offered the chance to follow their jobs, CA spokeswoman Shannon Lapierre said. The move follows the transfer of 75 telesales jobs to Tampa last year. In the span of a year, the call center in Tampa has amassed a staff of more than 500.
UPS TO HIRE 100 PILOTS: UPS Inc. has announced plans to hire at least 100 pilots during the next year and said most of them will be based in Louisville, Ky. Additional flight crews are needed because the company has new airplanes and is expecting to do more international flying, company spokesman Mark Giuffre said Tuesday. The pilots will be added through next year. About 40 percent of UPS' almost 2,500 pilots live in the Louisville area. The company has its main package-sorting hub at Louisville International Airport. New pilots also will be based in Ontario, Calif., and Miami.
AHOLD AGREES TO OVERSTATEMENT SETTLEMENT: Global grocery retailer Ahold NV has agreed to a settlement of civil fraud charges over an alleged $1-billion overstatement of earnings in a deal with U.S. regulators that does not fine the company. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and Ahold, the Dutch operator of the Giant and Stop & Shop supermarkets in the United States, announced the settlement Wednesday. The SEC also disclosed agreements with three former top executives of Ahold, including the chief executive, in the financial scandal focused on its distribution subsidiary, U.S. Foodservice Inc. The agency's suit against Ahold, filed in federal court in Washington, alleged the company fraudulently overstated sales by billions of dollars and fabricated hundreds of millions of dollars of earnings. The company and the three executives neither admitted to nor denied the allegations in their settlements.
EARNINGS
Apple Computer Inc.: Apple Computer Inc. said fourth-quarter profit more than doubled on surging sales of its iPod digital music player. IPod shipments rose to 2.02-million units from 336,000 a year earlier. The iPod won 82 percent of the market for hard-disk-based players sold in U.S. retail stores in the 12 months ended in August.
Accenture Ltd.: Accenture Ltd., the world's largest management and technology consulting company, posted a 52 percent surge in profit for its latest quarter but said profits in its current quarter could fall below estimates. In July, the company had forecast fourth-quarter profit of 26 cents to 29 cents a share. Accenture also said it will buy back $3-billion of its stock.
New York Times Co.: The New York Times Co. reported a 4 percent decline in third-quarter earnings Wednesday, despite higher advertising revenues, because of higher costs for newsprint and investments in expanding its flagship newspaper and the International Herald Tribune. The company also publishes the Boston Globe and a group of regional newspapers, including ones in Sarasota, Lakeland, Ocala and Gainesville.
Cornerstone Community Bank: The St. Petersburg bank reported a 42 percent increase in net income in the quarter ended Sept. 30.
