Print

Email story

Comment

Email editor

Business Today

By wire services
Published April 22, 2005

BRIDLEWOOD COMPLEX SOLD: Bridlewood at Highwoods Preserve, a 384-unit, luxury garden apartment community in New Tampa, was bought by Miami condominium conversion company BF Group for $42-million. The price translates to $109,375 per unit. Bridlewood was built in 2003 by Flournoy Development Co. on a 20-acre site. Apartment Realty Advisors represented Flournoy Development in the sale. The Highwoods development also includes 824,000 square feet of office space.

TRAMMELL CROW TAKES OVER ASHLEY PLAZA LEASING: Trammell Crow Co. will take over leasing of the 400 N Ashley Plaza office building in downtown Tampa under the tower's new owner. The 31-story building was sold in January to America's Capital Partners by Colonnade Properties LLC of New York. A spokeswoman for Trammell Crow said the 516,000-square-foot building is 68 percent occupied.

AMSCOT EXPANDING: Tampa's Amscot Financial is extending its chain of strip-center, financial services stores throughout central Florida. The company said it plans to open 35 locations in the metropolitan Orlando market within 12 months. Amscot, which makes its money in check cashing, payday advance, money orders and tax preparation, has 90 centers. Most are in west Central Florida. It has immediate plans to open 28 branches in Orange, Seminole and Osceola counties. Its game plan calls for opening 30 to 35 locations a year during the next three years. Volusia and Brevard counties are the next expansion targets.

VERIZON TALKS WITH UNION: Verizon Communications began preliminary contract talks this week with Local 824 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers in Tampa, which represents more than 4,000 employees. According to the union's Web site, the company is seeking changes in its health plan that would increase employee co-pays. The initial round of talks is expected to last four weeks, Verizon spokesman Bob Elek said. The IBEW's three-year labor pact with Verizon expires July 30.

QWEST SUBMITS HIGHER OFFER: Qwest Communications submitted another higher offer for MCI Inc. on Thursday, increasing its cash-and-stock bid to $9.74-billion, about 30 percent higher than the buyout deal that MCI has accepted from Verizon Communications Inc.

STOCKS SOAR: Stocks staged a stunning rebound Thursday as investors snapped up shares on unexpectedly strong earnings from companies including Nokia Corp. and Motorola Inc., and the surprising news that the New York Stock Exchange plans to merge with electronic trader Archipelago Inc. The Dow Jones industrial average soared more than 200 points to 10,218.60, its best day in two years.

BUFFETT INVESTS IN ANHEUSER-BUSCH: Anheuser-Busch Cos. Inc. said Thursday that billionaire Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc. has acquired a "significant" stake in the nation's largest beermaker.

HCA Inc.: The Nashville hospital chain, which operates nine hospitals in the Tampa Bay area, posted a 20 percent rise in earnings for the quarter ended March 31 on strong patient volumes and improvement in bad debt trends. HCA also raised its earnings guidance for 2005 to a range of $3.05 to $3.20, up from estimates of $2.75 to $2.90 a share.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd.: The Miami cruise company, the second-largest in the world, reported a 41 percent surge in earnings for the quarter ended March 31 because of higher ticket prices, larger cruise capacity and increases in occupancy and onboard revenue.

Office Depot Inc.: The Delray Beach office products company said net income for the quarter ended March 26 was essentially flat, as a strong retail performance in the United States and Canada was offset by sluggish performance in its business service and overseas operations.

Marriott International Inc.: The world's largest hotel chain posted a sharply higher profit that beat Wall Street expectations in the quarter ended March 25, as increased rates and occupancy lifted results for the Washington company.

Merck & Co.: The Whitehouse Station, N.J., drugmaker said its profit in the quarter ended March 31 slipped 15 percent as sales continued to suffer from its decision to pull its popular Vioxx painkiller from the market because of safety concerns.

McDonald's Corp.: The world's largest fast-food chain reported a 42 percent jump in profits for the quarter ended March 31 despite slower sales growth at the Oak Brook, Ill., company's U.S. restaurants.

UPS Inc.: The world's largest shipping carrier reported a more than 16 percent jump in profit in the quarter ended March 31 on strong growth in the Atlanta company's revenue and international operations.

AT&T Corp.: The New York long-distance telephone company said its profit rose in the quarter ended March 31 despite a huge revenue loss as it benefited again from sharply lower depreciation expenses after a huge writedown in assets.

Google Inc.: The Mountain View, Calif., owner of the most-used Internet search engine said profit for the quarter ended March 31 rose six-fold as sales of advertising outside the United States surged and new features lured more Web surfers.

Xerox Corp.: The Stamford, Conn., maker of copiers, printers, scanners and fax machines said earnings for the quarter ended March 31 fell 13 percent, reflecting last year's gain on the sale of its ContentGuard business.

[Last modified April 22, 2005, 00:49:19]