Business today

Compiled from Times wires

© St. Petersburg Times, published November 18, 2000

TECO BUYS COAL PRODUCER: TECO Energy's coal-mining subsidiary has acquired Perry County Coal, an eastern Kentucky company that produces about 2-million tons of coal annually. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Perry County Coal controls, owns or leases mineral rights on 20,000 acres with recoverable reserves of about 20-million tons. The acquisition will increase TECO Coal's shipments to 10-million tons annually. The subsidiary's main customers are domestic and European steelmakers, domestic utilities and other industries.

HOUSING STARTS RISE SLIGHTLY: Housing starts inched up to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.53-million in October, a 0.1 percent increase from September, the Commerce Department said. The latest housing report was weaker than many analysts anticipated. They had expected that September's strong 0.7 percent increase would be matched in October. Even with the small advance, new housing construction, which declined each month from May through August, remained at a solid level, analysts said.

UNITED LEADS FARE INCREASE: UAL Corp.'s United Airlines led American Airlines and Continental Airlines Inc. in raising some U.S. fares as much as $200 round-trip, one of the largest business-fare increases in at least seven years. United, the largest airline, said prices of one-way tickets bought fewer than three days before travel will rise by $50 to $100. AMR Corp.'s American, the No. 2 carrier, and No. 5 Continental matched United. No. 3 Delta Air Lines Inc. said it raised business fares 10 percent in some markets, while Northwest Airlines and Trans World Airlines Inc. are studying the increases. United wants to boost revenue as it faces the expense of its planned $11.6-billion purchase of US Airways Group Inc. and higher wages in a new four-year pilots contract.

SUNBEAM MAY FACE SEC CHARGES: Sunbeam Corp. said in a regulatory filing that the Securities and Exchange Commission may file charges after concluding a two-year investigation of the Boca Raton company's accounting practices. The agency began an inquiry in June 1998, two days after its board fired chairman Albert Dunlap following two quarters of losses. Dunlap overstated Sunbeam's results in 1997 by recording sales too early and combining operating expenses with a restructuring charge, Sunbeam said when it restated three years of results two years ago. An SEC spokesman declined to comment. VF CORP. REORGANIZES: VF Corp. said it would exit parts of its uniform and table linen manufacturing businesses, consolidate distribution centers and restructure units in Japan and Latin America to boost profits. The Greensboro, N.C., manufacturer of Lee and Wrangler clothing intends to concentrate on making casual clothes and lingerie. VF Corp. purchased Nutmeg Mills, a Tampa-based T-shirt and sweatshirt manufacturer, in 1993 and employs 720 workers in the area. "At this point, we haven't announced specifics about locations that will be affected by the layoffs," said VF Corp. spokeswoman Holly Stewart. But she doubted that the Tampa facility will be affected.

BRAINBUZZ NAMES CEO: Jeff D'Adamo has been named president and chief executive of BrainBuzz.com, a Tampa Internet recruiting company. The top positions were vacated by Tom Wallace in September. Since then, BrainBuzz founder Dan Doyle has been in charge of day-to-day operations. Doyle will now return to his position as chairman of the board. D'Adamo had previously served as BrainBuzz's vice president of partnerships and acquisitions. As for speculation that BrainBuzz.com is primed for a sale or merger, D'Adamo said he wouldn't elaborate on what he called "conversations that may or may not be taking place."

ABLEST TO CHANGE STOCK SYMBOL: Ablest Inc. of Clearwater said that its stock trading symbol on the American Stock Exchange will change from "ABI" to "AIH" effective Monday. Ablest, formerly known as C.H. Heist, is a staffing services company.

Earnings

Insurance Management Solutions Group Inc.

The St. Petersburg company warned Thursday it could lose up to $500,000 in the quarter ended Sept. 30. IMSG blamed the loss on an $848,000 pretax charge tied to the write-off of a receivable due from a customer. Without it, IMSG said, the company would have broken even.

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