Business digest

GM CUTS CONTRIBUTION: General Motors Corp. has notified its salaried employees that it is reducing company contributions to employee 401(k) retirement plans for the second time this year. Beginning Jan. 1, GM will cut its matching contribution to 20 cents on the dollar from 60 cents. GM joins other automakers and parts suppliers that have eliminated or reduced 401(k) contributions, including Ford Motor Co., DaimlerChrysler AG's Chrysler Group, Delphi Automotive Systems Corp. and Visteon Corp.

MCDONALD'S PREDICTS INCOME SLIDE: McDonald's Corp. said it expects profits to sink in the fourth quarter, its fifth consecutive year-to-year quarterly decline. Net profit for the fourth quarter is expected to be between 21 cents and 22 cents a share, compared with 34 cents per share in the year-ago quarter. Excluding one-time charges, the fast-food chain expects to report fourth-quarter operating earnings of 34 cents per share, a penny below analysts' expectations. McDonald's shares climbed $1.16, or nearly 5 percent, to close at $26.80.

CARNIVAL TO ADD U.K. VESSEL: Carnival Corp. said it will buy a $400-million ocean liner to be based in Southampton, England, to gain a greater share of the U.K. cruise market. Carnival signed a letter of intent with Italian builder Fincantieri SpA for a ship that will accommodate 1,968 passengers. The as-yet unnamed ship is to be delivered to Carnival's Cunard Line in January 2005. Shares of Carnival rose 56 cents to $27.30.

MINE WORKERS REACH AGREEMENT: The United Mine Workers and the nation's largest coal operators have reached tentative agreement on a new contract a year before the old one was to expire. The agreement with the Bituminous Coal Operators Association will cover union employees of the nation's largest coal producers, Peabody Coal Co. and CONSOL Energy Inc., as well some smaller operations. UMW members who work for those employers are expected to vote on the proposal Friday. The contract also must be approved by the BCOA's member companies.

ITT JOB CUTS: ITT Industries Inc. is eliminating 3,400 jobs, or 9 percent of its work force, and closing five plants as demand for electronics from the telecommunications and aerospace industries declines. The company said fourth-quarter income will be reduced by $65-million, or 72 cents a share, because of the firings and closings.

ENRON JOB FAIR AT ENRON FIELD: Former Enron Corp. employees flocked to an afternoon job fair at the Houston baseball stadium named for the once high-flying energy trading company. Nearly 300 recruiters, ranging from local retailers and health care companies to universities and the U.S. Secret Service, set up tables to meet thousands of Enron workers from the ranks of the 4,500 fired last week. Enron cut 60 percent of its Houston work force after filing the largest bankruptcy petition in U.S. history this month.

MEDIA ROUNDUP: Gannett Co., the largest newspaper publisher in the country, has canceled next year's raises for approximately 80 of its top executives. Gannett, which owns 97 U.S. newspapers including USA Today, has trimmed its U.S. work force to cut costs, eliminating 3.5 percent of its full-time and 13 percent of its part-time positions. The move follows similar steps by rivals Tribune Co. and Knight Ridder. Also, the Baltimore Sun said it will eliminate about 140 jobs to reduce costs, in part because of a national downturn in advertising. The company, part of the Tribune chain, hopes to reduce between 60 and 80 jobs with a buyout plan that will be offered next week to 200 employees. Nearly all departments will be affected by the job cuts, the Sun said. Separately, the Washington Post said it will raise the price of a single copy of the newspaper from a quarter to 35 cents. The increase, the first in 20 years, takes effect Dec. 31 and is a reaction to expansion costs and reduced advertising revenue. Home subscription and Sunday prices will be unchanged.

BANK SERVICE DISRUPTED: First Union bank customers through most of the Southeast lost access to their checking and savings accounts Friday after a power outage at the bank's Jacksonville processing center. Bank spokeswoman Christy Phillips said a utility transformer failed about 7:30 a.m., preventing customers from making balance inquiries or account transfers. Customers could still use ATMs or withdraw cash at branches, though some branches were limiting withdrawals. Power was restored later in the day, but the bank was still restoring its systems late Friday afternoon. First Union, part of the newly named Wachovia Corp., has about 15-million customers. Phillips could not say how many accounts were affected. She said only First Union customers were affected, not Wachovia customers who are joining the bank through its recent merger.

AIRLINE WORKERS OKAY STRIKE: United Airlines mechanics have voted to go on strike after two years of negotiations failed to produce a contract. A walkout would not be legally allowed until Feb. 21, though. Frank Larkin, a spokesman for the International Association of Machinists, said 99 percent of the nearly 10,000 votes cast supported a strike. The Bush administration has said it will step in to prevent strike-related problems from interfering with holiday travel.

BOFA'S BESSANT EXPANDS DUTIES: Cathy Bessant, outgoing Florida president of Bank of America, is receiving extra duties even before she relocates to a new corporate job in the megabank's Charlotte, N.C., headquarters. Bessant was named to succeed Edward Dolby as president of the bank's North Carolina operation. Dolby is retiring after 31 years. Bessant, 41, spent 15 months in Tampa running the Florida operation for Bank of America before being named head of corporate marketing in November. She plans to move to Charlotte in January to take on both new assignments.

JUA RATES MAY RISE: Homeowners covered by Florida's insurer of last resort may see their rates rise an average of 4.2 percent under a plan being submitted this month to the state Department of Insurance. The move by the Florida Residential Property and Casualty Joint Underwriting Association will have little impact on the Tampa Bay area. About 98 percent of the JUA's policies are in South Florida. In the bay area, the JUA has just 289 policies in Pinellas County, 54 policies in Hillsborough County and 23 in Pasco County. On average, the Pinellas policies will go up 2.3 percent, but there will be no change for Hillsborough and Pasco policies. The number of JUA policies has grown from 67,230 last November to 97,291 now -- still far short of the nearly 1-million policies it carried after Hurricane Andrew in 1996.

BELLSOUTH JOB CUTS: BellSouth said it plans to eliminate 1,200 technical and clerical jobs throughout the company's nine-state service area. The telecommunications giant notified the Communications Workers of America of the cuts late Thursday. A BellSouth spokesman said these cuts are separate from a plan announced in October to trim the payroll by 3,000 white-collar jobs.

VIVENDI INVESTS IN ECHOSTAR: Vivendi Universal is investing $1.5-billion in satellite TV company EchoStar Communications. Under the eight-year deal, Vivendi will feed EchoStar's six million DISH Network satellite customers in the United States with a range of television programming, films and music. Vivendi gets a 10 percent stake in EchoStar -- money that will help the company fund a planned $30-billion merger with rival Hughes Electronics.

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