Business digest

Compiled from Times wires

© St. Petersburg Times,
published August 10, 2001

TOYOTA VOWS TO IMPROVE MINORITY PROGRAMS: Toyota Motor Sales USA will spend hundreds of millions of dollars a year to train and hire more minorities, buy from minority companies and spend with minority advertisers as part of an agreement with the Rev. Jesse Jackson's organization. The deal calls for Toyota to spend more than $7.8-billion over the next decade on the diversity programs, about 30 percent to 35 percent more than what it now spends in these areas, a spokesman said. Jackson had threatened a boycott after seeing what was called an offensive and racist postcard ad that showed a dark-skinned man's mouth with an image of a gold Toyota RAV4 on one tooth.

PAY RAISES SLOWING, REPORTS SAY: Workers nationwide netted total salary and wage gains of 7.3 percent in the first quarter of this year, compared with the same period a year ago, according to the federal government's Bureau of Economic Analysis. Those gains -- the sum of all base pay, overtime, bonuses and other wages -- are down slightly from the 7.8 percent overall increase of a year ago, according to calculations by Economy.com, a West Chester, Pa. forecasting firm.

SALON FINDS FINANCING: Salon Media Group Inc., owner of the Internet magazine Salon.com, has received $2.5-million from 11 investors, led by investment banker Bill Hambrecht. The company plans to cut 14 jobs, reducing its work force to 59, and will convert Salon.com's free online discussion board, Table Talk, into a paid service, a spokesman said. Salon Media shares fell 1 cent to 44 cents.

BILL ARRIVES FOR SUNTRUST: SunTrust Banks Inc.'s failed three-month attempt to take over rival Wachovia Corp. cost the Georgia bank $30-million before taxes. SunTrust, which tried to thwart an agreement between Wachovia and First Union Corp., will book the cost of paying for lawyers, investment bankers and advertisements in the third quarter. Wachovia and First Union estimate they spent a combined $8-million in advertising to defend their agreement.

MEDIA GENERAL FREEZES BONUS: Employees of Media General Inc. will not receive holiday bonuses this year as the company tries to offset losses from a weak economy. Year-end bonuses for 3,200 employees would have totaled about $1.9-million, spokesman Karl Rhodes said. The bonus is about one week's pay, which averages $593.75, he said. The only workers affected by the move are at the Tampa Tribune, the Richmond Times-Dispatch and at the company's Richmond headquarters, Rhodes said.

TREASURY AUCTION: Yields rose on the U.S. Treasury's 29 1/2-year bonds in Thursday's auction. The Treasury sold $5-billion of the bonds at a yield of 5.520 percent, up from 5.460 percent at the previous auction Feb. 8.

WEEKLY JOBLESS CLAIMS RISE: New claims for state unemployment benefits rose by 33,000 to 385,000 in the week that ended Saturday, the Labor Department said. Analysts had expected jobless claims to rise to 375,000 from a previously reported 346,000. This year, jobless claims have averaged 383,000, up from the weekly average of 302,800 last year. The four-week moving average of claims, which smoothes out volatility in the weekly numbers, fell to 380,000, the lowest since March.

CUSTOM CABLE AGREES TO SALE: Steelcase Inc., the nation's largest office furniture company, plans to acquire Custom Cable Industries Inc., a designer, manufacturer and installer of data and voice cabling. Terms were not disclosed. Rick Watson, executive vice president of Custom, said the deal will provide his Tampa company with an opportunity to offer its goods and services on a nationwide basis.

ROAD RUNNER ISSUES RED WARNING: Subscribers to Time Warner's Road Runner Internet service received an e-mail warning this week about the Code Red worm that has been infecting computers the past two weeks. Road Runner spokeswoman Linda Chambers in Clearwater said the e-mail was to get information to subscribers "so they could prevent that virus from spreading," including a link to the Microsoft patch needed to prevent the worm's spread. The impact of the worm has been negligible for Road Runner nationally, Chambers said, with relatively few subscribers' computers infected and no noticeable slowdowns on connections attributed to Code Red. A number of Tampa Bay Road Runner users on an online newsgroup reported increased hits on their firewalls, which block intrusions.

TIRE STOCK DEAL: Bridgestone/Firestone Inc. bought a majority stake in closely held retailer Morgan Tire & Auto Inc. of Clearwater. Terms weren't disclosed. Morgan will operate as a unit of the tiremaker, Firestone said.

TROPICAL PURCHASE COMPLETE: Tropical Sportswear Int'l Corp. has completed its $15.5-million acquisition of Duck Head Apparel Co., a 134-year-old men's clothing brand. Tampa-based Tropical plans to sell Duck Head's headquarters in Winder, Ga., and hire Duck Head CEO Bill Roberti. No decision has been made about the future of Duck Head's 25 retail stores or its production plant that employs 500 people in Costa Rica.

RETAIL HEALTH REMAINS MIXED: A key measure of retail activity rose 3.4 percent in July, but economists say the industry's performance was mixed. Value-oriented stores such as Kmart and Wal-Mart showed strength, while department stores -- particularly Neiman Marcus -- and apparel chains struggled. One surprise came from Dillard's Inc., which reported a 7 percent gain in same-store sales, beating expectations. Also, J.C. Penney Co. bucked the dismal news from the nation's department stores with a same-store sales increase of 2.2 percent. Some analysts attributed the gain at discount retailers to the first wave of tax rebate spending and aggressive pricing.

© 2006 • All Rights Reserved • Tampa Bay Times
490 First Avenue South • St. Petersburg, FL 33701 • 727-893-8111

Contact the Times | Privacy Policy
Standard of Accuracy | Terms, Conditions & Copyright