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Business Today

By Wire services
Published March 24, 2006

Jabil shares rise most in three years

Shares of Jabil Circuit Inc. rose the most in more than three years after the St. Petersburg company forecast profit that topped analysts' estimates. Jabil climbed $4.51, or 12 percent, to $42.75 on the New York Stock Exchange. The gain was the most since Nov. 22, 2002. The shares have risen 55 percent in the past 12 months.

Coventry Health Care Inc. is expanding its work force in Tampa by about 120 jobs, the Greater Tampa Chamber of Commerce said Thursday. The Maryland managed care company will break ground next month on a building that will replace or complement a building on Busch Boulevard. The chamber took credit for encouraging Coventry to enlarge its presence but released few details, citing a confidentiality agreement. It's the first big business recruitment announced by the chamber this year.

German pharmaceutical and chemical company Bayer AG said Thursday it would make a 16.3-billion euro ($19.5-billion) white-knight offer for Schering AG, whose management said it would accept the offer over a hostile bid from Merck KgA. Bayer said it would offer 86 euros ($103) per share, topping a Merck offer of 77 euros ($92.40) rejected by Schering management.

Google Inc.'s stock will be added to the Standard & Poor's 500 index, a long-anticipated rite of passage that lifted the online search engine leader's recently sagging shares. Standard & Poor's announced the change after the market closed Thursday. Google will replace Burlington Resources Inc. in the closely watched barometer on March 31.

The American Stock Exchange has taken the first step in transforming itself into a public company, and plans to ask its seat owners to vote on becoming a for-profit exchange. The move follows in the steps of the larger New York Stock Exchange, which became public March 8 after its acquisition of Archipelago Holdings Inc.

A federal judge ordered former financier Martin Frankel on Thursday to serve the same sentence he got in 2004 for stealing $200-million from insurance companies - nearly 17 years in a federal prison.

Oil prices shot up by more than $2 a barrel Thursday in what some analysts described as a delayed reaction to U.S. government data released the previous day that showed shrinking domestic supplies. Light sweet crude for May delivery gained $2.14 to settle at $63.91 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. That is 19 percent higher than a year ago.

[Last modified March 24, 2006, 02:34:37]