Business digest

By TIMES WIRES

© St. Petersburg Times, published February 13, 2001

LUCENT RATING LOWERED: Lucent Technologies Inc.'s credit ratings were cut to within a notch of junk status by Standard & Poor's Corp. and Moody's Investors Service after revenue at the biggest maker of phone equipment fell in the fiscal first quarter. S&P lowered its rating on Lucent's corporate credit two notches to "BBB-" from "BBB+

." Moody's cut its rating on Lucent's unsecured long-term debt similarly, to "Baa3" from "Baa1." The cuts add to a slide that has taken the company close to below investment grade from among the highest-rated borrowers just a few months ago. The company's shares fell 56 cents to $14.80.

COMPUTER VIRUS: A computer virus pretending to be an electronic photo of tennis star Anna Kournikova overwhelmed e-mail servers throughout Europe and North America. Security experts said the virus does not permanently damage computers. The virus comes as an attachment named "AnnaKournikova.jpg.vbs" and carries the message "Hi: Check This!" At least three subject lines have been identified: "Here you have," "Here you go" and "Here you are" -- all followed by a smiley face. The virus is known as a worm because it can automatically send copies of itself to everyone on a recipient's address book. It only spreads through Microsoft Outlook e-mail software on Windows computers, although Macintosh users and those using other e-mail programs can still spread the virus manually.

VENATOR NAMES NEW CEO, CHAIRMAN: Venator Group Inc. named Matthew Serra as president and chief executive and J. Carter Bacot as chairman, effective March 4. They are replacing Dale Hilpert, who will resign March 3 to become chief executive of Williams-Sonoma Inc., a kitchen-goods and home-furnishings chain. Shares of Venator, whose holdings include the Foot Locker retail chain and Champs sporting goods stores, rose 14 cents to $12.04.

TECHNOLOGY ACQUISITION: U.S. energy services company Schlumberger Ltd. is buying the British information technology services concern Sema PLC for $5.2-billion. Sema is Europe's second-largest technology services company behind Cap Gemini, conducting business with financial, telecommunications and energy companies.

TREASURY AUCTION: Interest rates on short-term Treasury securities fell in Monday's auction. The Treasury Department sold $11-billion in three-month bills at a discount rate of 4.900 percent, down from 4.920 percent last week. An additional $10-billion was sold in six-month bills at a rate of 4.745 percent, down from 4.755 percent. The new discount rates understate the actual return to investors: 5.032 percent for three-month bills and 4.929 percent for a six-month bill. In a separate report, the Federal Reserve said Monday that the average yield for one-year Treasury bills rose to 4.72 percent last week from 4.66 percent the previous week.

RICHARDSON LANDS AT START-UP: Joe Richardson, former president of Florida Power Corp., has been hired as president and chief executive of Airvata Networks Inc., a Tampa-based telecomunications start-up. Richardson left Florida Power last year after its parent was acquired by Carolina Light & Power Co.

PSC OKAYS CALPINE POWER PLANT: Calpine Corp. has won approval from the Florida Public Service Commission to build a 540-megawatt power plant in Polk County. The San Jose, Calif., company has a contract to sell power from the plant to Seminole Electric Cooperative, which sells electricity to 10 member cooperatives throughout Florida. The Florida Supreme Court ruled last year that out-of-state power companies couldn't build "merchant plants" in Florida to sell power on the open market. But Calpine and Seminole argued the ruling didn't block companies that had long-term contracts with retail electric companies. Calpine hopes to start building the $250-million plant on a citrus grove in Auburndale by fall, spokesman Matt Bokor said. Gov. Jeb Bush and the state Cabinet and Florida Department of Environmental Protection must approve the project for construction to begin.

ZALE CEO QUITS: Zale Corp. said chairman and chief executive Beryl Raff has resigned, and the nation's largest specialty jewelry retailer said it would delay release of its latest quarterly financial results. The company said Raff would be replaced by former chief executive Robert J. DiNicola. Raff resigned to spend more time with her family and on personal interests, the company said. Zale confirmed that Philip Diehl, the former director of the U.S. Mint who was hired in March to expand Zale's Internet business, had left the company. No reason was given, nor was a replacement named. Zale shares fell $2.63, or 7.5 percent, to $32.67.

RAYMOND JAMES WINS STOCK CONTEST: St. Petersburg-based Raymond James & Associates Inc. has emerged as last year's big winner in the Wall Street Journal stock-picking contest. Rebounding from a last-place finish in 1999, Raymond James was first out of 15 major brokerage firms for the fourth quarter (up 12.3 percent), the year (up 43.9 percent) and the five-year period ended Dec. 31 (up 176.3 percent.) The firm benefitted from a move out of technology and into energy, health care and financial stocks. For the quarter and the year, no other contender came close to matching Raymond James' performance; most lost money.

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