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Business Today

By wire services
Published April 20, 2005

US Airways, America West talking merger

MONTGOMERY, Ala. - US Airways Group Inc. and America West are in advanced discussions to merge, creating a national low-cost airline that would better compete with discount rivals and complement each other geographically, US Airways' chairman said late Tuesday night.

Bankrupt US Airways has approached several rival carriers about a merger, but discussions with America West have progressed the farthest, chairman David Bronner said in an interview with the Associated Press.

No deal is imminent, and numerous issues must be resolved, he said.

"A lot of things will happen in the U.S. airline (industry) in the next 12 to 18 months," Bronner said.

"We'll do whatever we need to survive."

AKERMAN SENTERFITT SWITCHES BUILDINGS: Akerman Senterfitt, one of Florida's biggest law firms, confirmed Tuesday it is moving its downtown Tampa offices from the Wachovia Center to the SunTrust Financial Centre. Joe Rugg, manager of Akerman's Tampa office, said his firm will move in October into the 16th and 17th floors of SunTrust, taking 35,000 square feet in a 10-year lease. Akerman, which has about 30 attorneys and 25 support staff in Tampa, had outgrown its 25,000 square feet in Wachovia. Rugg said the company considered other options, such as moving into a new building, but couldn't wait for the next office tower to be built.

TECO COMPLETES SALE: TECO Energy Inc. said Tuesday it completed the sale of Commonwealth Chesapeake Co., the owner of its Commonwealth Chesapeake power station in Virginia, to Tenaska Power Fund for $89-million. The Tampa utility also said a U.S. bankruptcy judge confirmed the plan for a prepackaged Chapter 11 reorganization of the corporate entities representing TECO's two largest wholesale power plants, the Union power station in Arkansas and the Gila River power station in Arizona. The transfer of the Union and Gila River plants to TECO creditors is expected to be completed in May.

KPMG AGREES TO $22.5-MILLION SETTLEMENT: KPMG LLP, the U.S. unit of Big Four accounting firm KPMG International, has agreed to pay $22.5-million to settle federal regulators' charges that it allowed Xerox Corp. to manipulate its accounting. The Securities and Exchange Commission in January 2003 sued KPMG and some partners, including the head of the firm's department of professional practice, in connection with audits of Xerox from 1997 through 2000.

SCRUSHY PROSECUTORS REST CASE: Prosecutors rested their case against fired HealthSouth Corp. CEO Richard Scrushy on Tuesday after 12 weeks of trial that included testimony by five former finance chiefs linking Scrushy to a $2.7-billion earnings overstatement. The defense, which argues that the testimony by the CFOs and about two dozen other government witnesses proved no such link, asked U.S. District Judge Karon Bowdre to dismiss all charges. Bowdre scheduled a hearing for Thursday on whether to throw out the case. If she doesn't, the defense will present its first witness later that day.

SEARS LAUNCHES LINE FOR HISPANIC WOMEN: Sears Holdings Corp. and Latina Media Ventures, the publisher of Latina magazine, Tuesday said they would create a new line of apparel, footwear and handbags designed for Hispanic women. The new line, called Latina Life apparel, will debut this fall.

Coca-Cola Co.: The world's largest beveragemaker reported an 11 percent drop in profit for the quarter ended March 31. The drop for the Atlanta company came despite a solid increase in sales that were boosted by aggressive advertising and growth in several international markets.

Bausch & Lomb Inc.: The Rochester, N.Y., maker of contact lenses and lens care solutions said earnings for the quarter ended March 26 rose nearly 47 percent from a year ago because of strong lens care performance, which helped offset increased investment in research and development and higher expenses.

RadioShack Corp.: The Fort Worth, Texas, electronics retailer said earnings for the quarter ended March 31 fell 19 percent from last year, dragged lower by weakness in its wireless business. It gave a forecast for full-year earnings that trails Wall Street's target.

Johnson & Johnson: The New Brunswick, N.J., health-care products giant said quarterly earnings rose 17.4 percent from a year ago, soundly beating Wall Street expectations on an 11 percent jump in sales.

AmSouth Bancorp.: The Birmingham, Ala., bank holding company reported record earnings for the quarter ended March 31 on strong growth in loans and deposits.

Merrill Lynch & Co.: The Wall Street investment firm said its earnings in the quarter ended April 1 fell 3 percent from a year earlier, but the results topped analysts' estimates. The firm announced a 25 percent increase in its quarterly dividend and a $4-billion stock buyback program.

Taser International Inc.: The Scottsdale, Ariz., company posted a sharp drop in earnings as the controversy over the safety of its stun guns cut into sales for the quarter ended March 31.

Wells Fargo & Co.: The San Francisco bank's earnings growth slowed as the nation's fifth-largest bank sustained more losses on high-risk consumer loans and prepared to capitalize on rising interest rates. Profits missed analysts' projections by a penny.

Lucent Technologies Inc.: The Murray Hill, N.J., telecom equipment maker said earnings in the quarter ended March 31 quadrupled from a year ago because of strong demand for wireless network products. It said it will combine its mobility and wireless businesses into a single unit.

Viacom Inc.: The New York media conglomerate that owns CBS and MTV said net income for the quarter ended March 31 fell from a year ago when it recorded a tax benefit, but revenues rose 5 percent on growth in its cable networks division.

Pulitzer Inc.: The St. Louis newspaper publisher said earnings for the quarter ended March 27 fell 13.6 percent from a year ago because of costs associated with pursuing strategic alternatives before it agreed to be acquired by Lee Enterprises Inc.

Kraft Foods Inc.: The nation's largest foodmaker said earnings for the quarter ended March 31 climbed for the first time in seven quarters, helped by lower restructuring costs. The Northfield, Ill., company cut its profit forecast for the year by 2 cents a share.

Brown & Brown Inc.: The general insurance company with headquarters in Tampa and Daytona Beach announced record earnings for the quarter ended March 31 as it continues to buy up small insurance agencies.

Yahoo Inc.: The Internet powerhouse's first-quarter profit doubled in the quarter ended March 31 as the Sunnyvale, Calif., company continued to ride a rising tide of online advertising.

Intel Corp.: The San Jose, Calif., company's profit for the quarter ended April 2 jumped 25 percent as demand for microprocessors used in notebook computers grew and the world's largest chipmaker saw lower-than-expected manufacturing costs.

[Last modified April 20, 2005, 02:56:36]