Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, April 30, 1993 TAG: 9304300211
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: B4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Columbia Gas System said Thursday it expects to prepare a reorganization plan soon and its chairman, John H. Croom, will retire when the company comes out of Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Croom told stockholders at their annual meeting that Columbia will conduct a national search for a new chief executive.
Wilmington, Del.-based Columbia and its pipeline subsidiary, Columbia Gas Transmission Corp., a major supplier of Roanoke Gas Co., have been in reorganization since July 1991.
Columbia Gas estimated its first-quarter earnings at $140 million, or $2.77 a share, up from $11 million, or 21 cents, a year ago. The anticipated increase includes a writedown in the value of oil and gas reserves. - Staff report
\ First Union puts new names on board
First Union Corporation of Virginia, Roanoke-based parent of First Union National Bank of Virginia, on Thursday named the presidents of three area companies to its board.
The new directors are Glenn Hunsucker of Bassett Furniture Industries in Bassett, Thomas Robertson of Carilion Health System of Roanoke and Glenn Thornhill Jr. of Maid Bess Corp. in Salem. They join 12 other directors on the Virginia board.
"Each brings to the board a wealth of business expertise, a strong commitment to community service and a solid understanding of Virginia's economic potential," said Chairman Warner Dalhouse.
First Union Corp. of Virginia operates the company's banks in Virginia, Maryland and the District of Columbia. It is a subsidiary of First Union Corp. of Charlotte, N.C. - Staff report
\ Wheat, First to drop last Wheat from firm
RICHMOND - WFS Financial Corp., parent of Wheat, First Securities Inc., is selling its three venture capital funds.
The sale, expected to be closed in mid-May, will mark the first time in 59 years that no member of the Wheat founding family will be employed by the company, which operates a securities brokerage in Roanoke.
James C. Wheat III, son of the late chairman emeritus, James C. Wheat Jr., will help manage the funds after they are sold. He will work with Wheat, First, but no longer will be on the payroll.
WFS Financial is selling Atlantic Venture Co. Inc., which operates two venture capital funds. It also is selling Riverfront Partners, the general partner in a fund that invests in acquisitions and management buyouts. - Staff report
\ Briefly . . .
\ The Maddox Agency of Roanoke and Richmond said it has been named to handle advertising for the area Sonic Drive-In franchisee. The 1950s-style drive-in, with an outlet on Franklin Road, began as a single root-beer stand 32 years ago and now consists of more than 1,150 units, making it the nation's fifth-largest hamburger chain.
\ Rider, Thomas, Cleaveland, Ferris & Eakin, a criminal defense and personal injury law firm, has moved to 22 Luck Ave. in downtown Roanoke. The firm, which was in the Southwest Virginia Savings Bank building, bought its new building, previously occupied by Associated Advertising.
\ Earnings . . .
\ WLR Foods Inc., a Hinton chicken and turkey processor with a distribution center in Roanoke for its Cassco Ice & Cold Storage subsidiary, reported third-quarter net earnings of $1.3 million, or 10 cents per share, compared with a year-earlier net loss of $1.2 million, or 19 cents per share. Sales were $149.6 million, up 23 percent from year-earlier $121.8 million.
For its first three quarters, WLR sales rose 17 percent to $436.9 million and net earnings rose 286 percent to $8.5 million, or 81 cents per share.
by CNB