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© St. Petersburg Times, published September 29, 2001
POSTAL SERVICE SEEKS HELP: The U.S. Postal Service is contracting with almost 7,000 trucking companies to make up for the loss of cargo space previously available on commercial airlines. The Federal Aviation Administration continues to restrict all packages from traveling via commercial airlines while allowing letters to be carried through the air.
AUTOMAKER CAUTIONS ON FORECAST: DaimlerChrysler AG said it might miss its 2001 earnings targets due to the terrorist attacks in the United States. The German-U.S. automaker had expected a 2001 operating profit of $1.1-billion to $1.55-billion. The company said its third-quarter results were better than it had expected because of improvements at its troubled Chrysler division. Analysts forecast per-share earnings of 21 cents in the third quarter, 47 cents in the fourth quarter and 95 cents for the year. DaimlerChrysler's U.S. shares rose $1.18 to $29.98.
UPS OUTLOOK CUT: United Parcel Service has lowered its earnings estimate for the second time this quarter, joining the list of companies cutting their outlooks in the wake of this month's terrorist attacks. UPS said that it expects to earn 45 to 48 cents per share in the third quarter, down from the 52 cents to 55 cents per share analysts had projected. It initially had expected earning 57 cents per share for the third quarter.
AIRLINE CUTS AT TIA: US Airways has notified the state that it will eliminate 111 positions at Tampa International Airport effective Friday. According to union representatives, about 67 if those terminated are represented by the mechanics union. Another 17 are customer service agents represented by the Communications Workers of America. A further breakdown of local job reductions was not being made available by the airline, which said it will cut 11,000 jobs nationwide. Separately, the company said chairman Stephen Wolf and chief executive officer Rakesh Gangwal have given up their salary for the remainder of the year. Gangwal is forfeiting an estimated $197,000 and Wolf is losing $175,000.
AT&T TO GET EXCITE UNIT: Excite@Home said it will sell its broadband business to AT&T Corp. for $307-million in cash and file for bankruptcy protection. The bankruptcy filing will not result in any service disruptions to Excite@Home's 3.7-million subscribers, the companies said. The deal is subject to a bankruptcy judge's approval. AT&T spokeswoman Eileen Connolly declined to comment on how the deal might relate to any possible sale of its broadband unit. Comcast said Friday it had signed a confidentiality agreement rekindling talks.
NEW CHAIRMAN FOR CHECKERS: Ronald Maggard has been elected chairman of Checkers Drive-In Restaurants Inc. Maggard, a Long John Silver's franchisee from California, replaces William Foley II, who resigned from Checkers' board after its annual shareholders meeting Wednesday. Foley joined the board in 1996, the year another company he chairs, CKE Restaurants Inc., became a substantial shareholder in the then-struggling Tampa chain. More recently, Foley and CKE have been gradually selling off their Checkers stock, a move Checkers chief executive Dan Dorsch has encouraged.
TRADING FLOOR TO REOPEN: The American Stock Exchange said it will open its trading floor Monday, almost three weeks after it was closed following the terrorist attacks. Since Sept. 17, the Amex has operated on the floors of the New York Stock Exchange and Philadelphia Stock Exchange.
HOTEL STATISTICS MIXED: The Tampa Bay area hotel industry was flat in August, according to Smith Travel Research. The Gallatin, Tenn., research company estimated the occupancy rate was up 1.4 percent to 59.7 percent. The average daily room rate decreased 69 cents to $73.60.
CENDANT REDUCES OUTLOOK: Cendant Corp., owner of Days Inn and Super 8 hotels and Avis rental cars, lowered its earnings projections for the rest of this year and all of next year. Cendant blamed the negative impact of terrorist attacks on the travel industry. Cendant said it expected third-quarter earnings of 32 cents per share, a penny below earlier predictions. However, Cendant's fourth-quarter earnings guidance was drastically lower, reduced to a range of between 15 cents and 19 cents per share, compared with earlier projections of 24 cents per share. Shares of Cendant rose $1.36, or 12 percent, to close at $12.80.
MUTUAL FUNDS SLAMMED: The mutual fund industry posted its worst quarterly performance in nearly 14 years, with 99 percent of stock funds suffering losses in the third quarter. Lipper Inc. reported that 41 of its 42 fund categories posted negative returns for the quarter. Gold was the only fund category to deliver a positive return, 1.6 percent.