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Business digestBy Compiled from Times wires © St. Petersburg Times, published October 5, 2000 FACTORY ORDERS REBOUND IN AUGUST: Orders to American factories bounced back in August after a record 8.1 percent plunge the previous month, thanks to stronger demand for airplanes and electronics. Factory orders rose a surprising 2 percent to a seasonally adjusted $382.5-billion, the Commerce Department said. The performance surprised many analysts, who predicted factory orders would fall by 1.9 percent. BANK ACQUISITION: Firstar Corp. is buying U.S. Bancorp for about $19-billion in stock in a deal that would create the nation's ninth-largest banking company. The new company would have more than $160-billion in assets and operations in 24 Western and Midwestern states from California to Ohio. The deal is subject to shareholder and regulatory approval. The agreement keeps it in the family: Jerry Grundhofer is president and chief executive of Milwaukee-based Firstar, while brother John is chairman, president and chief executive of Minneapolis-based U.S. Bancorp. PEPSICO CEO TO STEP DOWN: PepsiCo Inc. said that Roger Enrico will step down as chief executive by the end of next year. Enrico, 55, joined the world's No. 2 soft-drinkmaker in 1971, spending the past four years as CEO. His successor will be president and chief operating officer Steve Reinemund, 52. Enrico is credited with expanding the Frito-Lay snack business, which generates about 64 percent of PepsiCo's sales. As the head of the Pepsi-Cola business, he launched the Pepsi Challenge, in which consumers compared Pepsi and Coke in blind taste tests. PepsiCo also reported third-quarter net income of $587-million, or 40 cents a share, topping analysts' expectations by a penny. DELL SALES MAY MISS FORECAST: Dell Computer Corp. said fiscal third-quarter and full-year sales could be less than expected on weak demand in Europe and slow growth in its small-business products. Dell said that if the weakness persists, revenue for the fiscal year could rise 27 percent to $32-billion, compared with the company's previous forecasts of 30 percent growth. Dell shares fell 38 cents to $28.19 in late trading before being halted for the news. They've fallen 45 percent this year. DISNEY TO REVAMP STORES: Walt Disney Co. plans to completely remodel about 350 Disney Stores in North America and could close as many as 100 of its 700 stores worldwide as it revamps its consumer products business. Disney has struggled with the division in recent years because of lower worldwide licensing revenue, higher costs and slowing sales at its Disney stores. The new stores are much brighter than the old format, can display 40 percent more merchandise and have interactive computer kiosks for customers to buy items not available at the store. Disney plans to complete the remodelings by the end of 2003. AT&T PONDERS SPINOFF, REPORT SAYS: The board of directors at AT&T Corp. reportedly favors spinning off the company's struggling consumer long-distance business to shareholders rather than selling it outright, the Wall Street Journal reported. The Journal also said AT&T has approached companies that might be interested in buying its long-distance business. A company spokesman declined to comment on the report or the potential spinoff. Shares of AT&T rose 63 cents to $29.75. TECH BUYOUT: Maxtor Corp. has agreed to acquire Quantum Corp.'s hard disk drive business for about $1.18-billion in stock, creating the world's largest maker of computer disk drives. The combined company will have annual sales of about $6-billion. The deal is expected to close early next year.
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From the Times Business report
From the AP
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