Business today

Compiled from Times wires

© St. Petersburg Times, published November 11, 2000

FIRESTONE SALES DOWN: Sales of Firestone replacement tires for cars and light trucks fell about 40 percent in the United States in September and October compared with a year earlier, the president of Bridgestone Corp. said. The sales decline followed a massive recall of Firestone tires begun in August by its U.S. subsidiary, Bridgestone/Firestone. Bridgestone president Yoichiro Kaizaki also said the company expects recall costs to reach about $450-million, nearly 29 percent higher than earlier estimates. Overall,

Bridgestone/Firestone's sales of tires for passenger cars and light trucks posted a single-digit percentage drop because of increased sales of Bridgestone-brand and other non-Firestone brand tires.

HONEYWELL FORGOES ASSET SALES: Honeywell International Inc. has withdrawn its plan to sell several business units in light of General Electric Co.'s proposed purchase of the company. Honeywell had planned to sell its automotive businesses including Prestone antifreeze and its friction materials, pharmaceutical fine chemicals and security monitoring operations. The units accounted for about 10 percent of Honeywell's $24-billion in sales last year. General Electric agreed last month to buy Honeywell for about $53.3-billion in stock and assumed debt.

GATEWAY REVEALS WEB APPLIANCE: Gateway Inc. introduced a sleek, touch-screen device called the Connected Touch Pad, designed to offer easy Internet access from a kitchen counter or anyplace else where bulky personal computers usually are shunned. Gateway's Touch Pad, which works only with Internet service provided by America Online Inc., is the latest entry into the emerging market for so-called Web appliances. Compaq Computer Corp. and 3Com Corp. have introduced similar products, and competing appliances also are expected from Sony Corp. and Intel Corp.

COMPUTER VIRUS SPOTTED: Computers in at least 10 Fortune 500 companies have been infected recently by an annoying but only mildly dangerous Christmas-themed virus that security experts call "Navidad." The virus, which affects computers using Microsoft's Windows operating system, arrives as a reply when a user sends an e-mail to an infected computer. The attachment, called "NAVIDAD.EXE," is mainly in Spanish, and anti-virus experts believe the virus came from South America. When a person opens the Navidad attachment, a message in Spanish reads: "Never press this button." If the button is pressed, a message says: "Feliz Navidad. Unfortunately you have given in to temptation and will lose your computer."

BUYER FOUND FOR HONOLULU PAPER: Canadian newspaper publisher David Black has reached an agreement to buy the Honolulu Star-Bulletin, ending a plan to close the 118-year-old afternoon daily. Black said he will assume control of the newspaper March 15 from Liberty Newspapers LP and will publish it independently of the Gannett Co. Inc.-owned Honolulu Advertiser. The newspapers share advertising, circulation and printing functions under a joint operating agreement. Liberty agreed to sell the newspaper to settle an antitrust lawsuit by the state and a citizens' group to stop Gannett and Liberty's plan to end their joint operating agreement 12 years early and close the Star Bulletin in 1999.

MUSIC MERGER TALKS UNDER WAY: Bertelsmann AG, the German media giant, and EMI Group PLC, the British music group, said they were in talks about combining their operations to form what would become the music industry's largest company. By joining forces with EMI, Bertelsmann chief executive Thomas Middelhoff would attain his goal of creating the world's largest music company, topping Seagram Co.'s Universal Music Group. France's Vivendi SA is acquiring Seagram. Time Warner, which is being acquired by America Online, and EMI called off plans to merge their music units last month.

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