THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, August 8, 1994 TAG: 9408060136
SECTION: BUSINESS WEEKLY PAGE: 15 EDITION: FINAL
COLUMN: Last Week
SOURCE: STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS
LENGTH: Medium: 86 lines
Norfolk Southern Corp.'s apparent interest in acquiring Conrail Inc. makes lots of sense and, to many rail stock analysts, comes as no surprise.
A merger between the two railroad powerhouses would create a monolith with more than 26,000 miles of track from Boston to New Orleans, and from Chicago to Jacksonville, with strengths in hauling coal and merchandise.
Spokesman for Conrail and Norfolk Southern declined to comment on the talks, which were first reported last week in The Journal of Commerce. If true, the merger deal will be the third major railroad deal this summer.
THE NORFOLK money-management firm Seaboard Investment Advisers Inc. has agreed to pay $1 million to settle federal allegations that it used false or misleading information when advertising its financial performance.
The fine was part of a cease-and-desist order issued by the Securities and Exchange Commission, which also contended that Seaboard broke federal laws by failing to maintain and preserve records demonstrating its investment performance.
The SEC said the investment company and its senior executives agreed to the settlement terms without admitting or denying the SEC's allegations.
SEEKING TO CAPITALIZE on broadening energy deregulation, Consolidated Natural Gas Co. said it will start selling electricity to large customers around the country.
As part of the plan, CNG, parent of Norfolk-based Virginia Natural Gas Co., said it will shuffle several top executives, effective Sept. 1.
In an interview last week, William F. Fritsche Jr., president of Virginia Natural Gas, said Pittsburgh-based CNG is evolving from a gas company to an ``energy-moving company.''
CNG said it will ask the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to allow its new subsidiary to get into electric-power marketing.
A FLOOD OF HIGH SCHOOL students into the summer labor force pushed up the unemployment rate in Hampton Roads and the rest of the state during June, the Virginia Employment Commission reported.
Hampton Roads' jobless rate rose to 6.3 percent in June from 5.9 percent the month before and 5.8 percent in June 1993, the commission said. The region had the highest unemployment rate of all metropolitan areas in the state.
The statewide unemployment rate edged up to 5.5 percent in June. That was up three-tenths of a percentage point from May and also slightly higher than the year before.
PHOENIX DATA Communications Inc. of Chesapeake bid more than $2 million to buy the rights to bring Interactive Video Data Services technology to Hampton Roads.
Phoenix was one of three high bidders in the Federal Communications Commission's auction of air waves set aside for the technology. Phoenix won one license each for South Hampton Roads and the Peninsula. It also won licenses in Richmond, Petersburg and Las Vegas.
Two other licenses were awarded locally, the FCC said. Community Teleplay, in Washington, bid $850,000 for a South Hampton Roads channel. New York-based 22nd Century Communications bid $600,000 for a Peninsula channel.
NEWPORT NEWS Shipbuilding and yards like it around the country could soon receive millions of dollars in federal subsidies to help them better compete with foreign competitors for commercial shipbuilding contracts.
Last week, the House passed a $1.3 billion, 10-year bill to provide operating subsidies for a small U.S.-flag fleet. That bill also increased the shipbuilding loan guarantee program.
The House also voted to provide about $300 million for a shipbuilding subsidy program to help shipyards make the transition to high-tech commercial shipbuilding.
HARRIS TEETER, a Matthews, N.C.-based grocery chain, plans to build two stores in Hampton Roads next winter. The stores will be the chain's first entry into the southeastern Virginia market.
The chain plans to break ground on a Virginia Beach store in January, followed by ground-breaking on a Newport News store in February. The company hasn't disclosed street locations for the stores.
A division of Charlotte-based Ruddick Corp., Harris Teeter has a reputation for wide selections of food and beverage.
Harris Teeter operates 141 stores in the Southeast from Atlanta to the Carolinas. About 40 of them are open 24 hours a day. by CNB