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Business Today

By wire services
Published April 30, 2005

TAMPA APARTMENTS TURN INTO CONDOS: Florida Southeast Development will begin selling units at the Villas Apartments on Cross Creek Boulevard in New Tampa as condominiums starting May 20. Florida Southeast has not released prices but said they will start in the low $100,000 range. Completed in 2001, the 282-unit Villas is the fourth condo conversion for Tampa-based Florida Southeast in the past 15 months.

INCOMES RISE 0.5 PERCENT: Americans' incomes rose by 0.5 percent in March, the best showing in three months, and they used the extra money to boost consumer spending by 0.6 percent, the government reported Friday. The Commerce Department said the March income gain followed a 0.4 percent rise in February and was the best since a 3.7 percent surge in December, a month when the income figure soared because of a special dividend payment made by computer software giant Microsoft.

US AIRWAYS' LOSSES WIDEN: Bankrupt US Airways Group Inc.'s losses widened by 8 percent to $191-million in the first three months of 2005 as steep fuel costs and cheap fares undermined the airline's cost-cutting efforts. If you exclude one-time items associated with the company's bankruptcy, the losses would have been $280-million.

WALTER UNIT LAYS OFF 50: U.S. Pipe & Foundry Co., a Chattanooga, Tenn., unit of Walter Industries of Tampa, is laying off about 50 people, or 15 percent of its work force, as the company reduces its focus in one of its business lines. The move will leave the company with 390 workers.

WADDELL & REED REPAYS UP TO $11-MILLION: Brokerage firm Waddell & Reed Financial Inc. is repaying as much as $11-million to affected customers in settlements with industry and state regulators who accused it of improperly switching customers from one annuity investment to a similar one.

Clear Channel Communications Inc.: The nation's largest radio broadcaster on Friday reported a 59 percent drop in earnings in the first quarter while announcing it will split up its media empire by spinning off its live-entertainment division.

ChevronTexaco Corp.: The oil company's first-quarter profit edged up by 4 percent, but didn't live up to analysts' expectations because oil refinery outages prevented it from taking full advantage of the high gasoline prices that have been tormenting motorists.

[Last modified April 30, 2005, 01:09:01]