Business today

© St. Petersburg Times,
published October 11, 2001

TRADING IN POLAROID HALTED: Trading in shares of Polaroid Corp. was halted following a Wall Street Journal report that a filing for federal bankruptcy protection was imminent. Polaroid spokesman Skip Colcord said he couldn't comment on whether the trading halt came at Polaroid's request and declined to comment on the possible bankruptcy filing. Polaroid has seen its core instant film business slip dramatically in recent years. It is rushing to develop new instant printing technology, but analysts have expressed doubts it would be ready in time to save the company from reorganization. Polaroid shares Tuesday closed at 28 cents per share, down 15 cents.

Z-TEL TAPS BUSINESS MARKET: Z-Tel Technologies Inc., an alternative local phone company struggling through a downturn, is branching out from the consumer market. The Tampa company said it will offer its first commercial local phone service with a product geared toward small businesses. In its second quarter ended June 30, Z-Tel reported a loss of $108-million, with write-offs larger than its revenues. In reporting second-quarter results in August, Z-Tel executives predicted the company would break even in the third quarter. The company, which is to release third-quarter results Nov. 8, declined to discuss whether that goal was affected by the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

SMUCKER TO BUY JIF, CRISCO: J.M. Smucker Co. has agreed to buy Procter & Gamble Co.'s top-selling Jif peanut butter and Crisco cooking oils for about $675-million. Procter & Gamble will spin off the businesses to shareholders, who then will be paid with Smucker shares. Procter & Gamble shareholders will own 53 percent of Smucker after the transaction is completed. Smucker's shares rose $5.23 to an eight-year high of $31.12; Procter & Gamble rose 80 cents to $73.34.

BRITISH AIRWAYS FREEZES PAY: British Airways will cancel bonuses and freeze pay for 36,000 workers to cut costs in the wake of last month's terrorist attacks. The move is expected to save $54-million. BA is already firing 7,000 employees after the attacks, and analysts said the freeze will help avoid another major round of job cuts. The GMB Union, the airline's second-largest union with 4,000 members, rejected the salary plan and said it may take industrial action, the Financial Times reported. It wants British Airways to seek a bailout package from the U.K. government.

WHOLESALE INVENTORIES FALL: Wholesale inventories in August fell for a third consecutive month, the Commerce Department said. Stockpiles declined 0.1 percent to $298.7-billion, the lowest since June 2000. Wholesaler sales rose 0.6 percent, led by drugs and petroleum products. That pushed down the inventory-to-sales ratio, a measure of the time goods sit unsold, to 1.30 months, the lowest since February.

GOODYEAR EXPANDS JOB CUTS: Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. said it plans to lay off 1,400 employees, or 5 percent of its manufacturing work force, at five U.S. plants this month. The layoffs are in addition to the 8,000 layoffs the company revealed earlier this year, a spokesman said. Most of those layoffs came from Europe, Asia and Latin America.

FIRM HELPS SURVIVORS' FAMILIES: Cantor Fitzgerald LLP, the bond trading firm that lost more than two-thirds of its employees in last month's terrorist attacks, said it will provide financial support to the victims' families. The firm will cover their health care costs for the next 10 years and give them a portion of its profits for five years or until each receives at least $100,000 in cash. Cantor also will distribute the missing employees' commissions and bonuses to their families earlier than originally planned. The company had said they would receive the payments by Jan. 1. Cantor lost 700 of its 1,000 employees and its headquarters Sept. 11.

TREASURY AUCTION: Interest rates on four-week Treasury bills fell in Wednesday's auction. The Treasury Department sold $6-billion in four-week bills at a discount rate of 2.25 percent, down from 2.28 percent last week. The new discount rates understate the actual return to investors: 2.285 percent.

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