Business: Business digest

Business digest

Compiled from Times wires

FORD DROPS PRODUCTION TARGET: Ford Motor Co. lowered its North American production plan 10 percent to 930,000 cars and trucks, reflecting reduced demand. Ford made 1.04-million vehicles in the year-earlier third quarter. Ford hasn't decided whether any plants will have temporary closings during the quarter other than the normal two-week summer shutdown in July, a spokesman said.

HEALTHPLAN SERVICES PRESIDENT NAMED: PlanVista Corp. of Tampa has named Jeffery W. Bak president of its HealthPlan Services Inc. subsidiary. Bak has been with the company since 1995. HealthPlan Services is a third-party administrator of managed-care plans.

TIMES SUSPENDS PAYMENT: The St. Petersburg Times told employees Tuesday that it is suspending a staff benefit because of a difficult economic climate for newspapers. Since 1969, the newspaper has paid a quarterly bonus to make up for inflation but will skip future payments until it returns profits to an acceptable range. Lower advertising revenues and higher prices for paper have hit American newspapers this year, and many have announced staff reductions, including layoffs. Times executives said they were working to avoid such measures. Privately held, the Times does not disclose its profits but told employees that margins are running below its own targets.

BURGER KING MODIFYING PLAY AREAS: Burger King is replacing the netting that encloses playgrounds at about 650 of its restaurants across the country following the death of a 4-year-old boy who became entangled in the play equipment. Burger King will install "no-climb" nets, which have one-quarter-inch holes, on the sides of the play structures accessible to children, the Consumer Product Safety Commission said. Burger King, based in Miami, has about 3,200 restaurant playgrounds nationwide. Those built after 1996 already have the new nets.

NEWSPAPER OFFERS CD EDITION: The Akron Beacon Journal has begun selling CD versions of its daily paper, hoping among other things to lure younger readers more comfortable with computing than old-fashioned print. Officials at the Journal, based in northeast Ohio, say the newspaper is the first in the nation to offer a compact disc version. Last week, the Journal began producing about 250 CDs each night to sell at newsstands along with print versions of the paper. Both cost 25 cents, though production costs are less for the CDs, 19 cents versus 35 cents. The Journal has patented its software and may partner with a national company to sell it to other newspapers.

EMPLOYER LANDS TAX REFUND: A financial services company that plans to expand its Pinellas County operations has been approved for a $1.5-million tax refund by the Board of County Commissioners. The company, which was not identified, already has 350 employees locally. It plans to add 500 workers over the next four years at an average annual salary of $32,667. The company also is building a 280,000-square-foot office building with two parking garages. The tax refund, which is subsidized by the state, includes a local contribution of $300,000 that is being split evenly between Pinellas County and the city of St. Petersburg.

GRAPEFRUIT FORECAST LOWERED: The Florida Agricultural Statistics Service lowered Florida's grapefruit forecast by 5 percent to 46.5-million boxes. The drop in the estimate was caused by the fact that most of the packing houses that ship fresh grapefruit have closed for the season and the processors that turn the fruit into juice aren't expected to accept much more fruit, said Casey Wohl-Pace, a spokeswoman for Florida Citrus Mutual, a grower's association. Each box of grapefruit weighs 85 pounds. Separately, the U.S. Agriculture Department's orange forecast remained unchanged at 224-million 90-pound boxes, as recent rains helped fruit to get bigger. KRAFT IPO COULD NET $8.7-BILLION: Philip Morris Cos. raised $8.7-billion from the sale of stock in its Kraft Foods division in the second-biggest U.S. initial public offering ever. Underwriters set the price for Kraft shares at $31 per share, according to Credit Suisse First Boston, which is underwriting the sale with Citigroup Inc.'s Salomon Smith Barney. The IPO values Kraft at about $53.8-billion. Trading in Kraft shares is expected to begin today on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol KFT. The offering trails only AT&T Wireless Group's $10.6-billion sale in April 2000.

FPL GROUP CEO STEPS DOWN: FPL Group Inc. said James Broadhead stepped down as president and chief executive. Broadhead, 65, has been CEO since 1989. He will be replaced by Lewis Hay, head of the company's power plant-development unit. Hay, 45, joined FPL in August 1999 as chief financial officer and has been president of FPL Energy since March 2000. Broadhead will remain chairman through the year. VERIZON SUES OVER REPORTS: Verizon Communications has sued Covad Communications Group, saying the high-speed Internet service provider filed false reports blaming service failures on the phone company. Verizon said 22,000 Covad reports last year, or about half the complaints, were false. The false reports cost Verizon millions of dollars, the company said, without providing a complete estimate. John Thorne, deputy general counsel, said it costs Verizon several hundred dollars to send a technician to investigate failures. Covad denies the allegations.

AVAYA TO LAY OFF 3,000: Avaya Inc., the telephone equipment manufacturer spun off from Lucent Technologies Inc., will eliminate at least 3,000 jobs and forecast declining sales in this year's second half. The slowdown widened in late May and early this month, making it likely that revenues will fall as much as 6 percent in the current quarter, which ends June 30. Avaya shares fell 12 cents to $15. The announcement came after the end of regular trading.

SEARS SETTLES BENEFITS DISPUTE: Sears, Roebuck & Co. reached a tentative settlement with retired workers who sued the retailer for reducing their life insurance benefits. Terms won't be disclosed until the agreement is approved by a federal court, Sears said. In late 1997, Sears said it would reduce the benefits for workers who retired after Jan. 1, 1978, to $5,000 over 10 years regardless of the policies' previous values. If retirees wanted to maintain the previous value, they were told to buy replacement insurance that would become more expensive as they grow older.