Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, April 22, 1995                   TAG: 9504240047
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: A-6   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

IN BUSINESS

WASHINGTON - The Federal Trade Commission approved an agreement Friday that will permit the nation's two largest hospital chains to proceed with a multibillion-dollar merger.

The combination of Columbia-HCA Healthcare Corp. and HealthTrust Inc. will create a single corporation with more than 280 hospitals across the country. Columbia-HCA is parent of Lewis-Gale Hospital in Salem, Va.

Under terms of the merger, Columbia will give about $3.3 billion worth of its shares to HealthTrust and assume about $1.7 billion in debt.

HealthTrust will operate as a wholly owned subsidiary of Columbia-HCA with both companies based in Nashville, Tenn.

The commission said Columbia-HCA Healthcare has agreed to sell seven hospitals and end a joint venture at another hospital in order to settle charges that the merger, announced in October, would reduce or eliminate competition in some markets.

The company has agreed to sell three hospitals in the Salt Lake City-Ogden, Utah, area and one hospital each in areas of Pensacola and Okaloosa, Fla.; Ville Platte-Mamou-Opelousas, La.; and Denton, Texas.

- Associated Press

Earnings

Dominion Resources Inc., Richmond parent of Virginia Power, reported first-quarter net income of $108.5 million, or 63 cents per share, on revenues of $1.13 billion, compared with year-earlier $141.4 million, or 84 cents per share, on revenues of $1.17 billion.

Uni-Marts Inc. reported net earnings of $561,237, or 9 cents per share, on revenue of $73.2 million for its second quarter ended March 30, compared with year-earlier $468,948, or 7 cents per share, on revenue of $76.7 million. For the six months, earnings were $1.9 million, or 30 cents per share, on revenue of $153.1 million, compared with year-earlier $1.7 million, or 24 cents per share, on revenue of $160.9 million. The State College, Pa., company operates convenience stores.

Roanoke Gas Co. reported net earnings of $1.8 million, or $1.28 per share, on operating revenues of $18.9 million for its second quarter ended March 31, compared with year-earlier $1.7 million, or $1.25 per share, on revenues of $22.4 million. Utilities report 12-month results at the end of each quarter, and Roanoke Gas said for the year ended March 31 its net earnings were $1.3 million, or 96 cents per share, on revenues of $49.9 million, compared with year-earlier $1.8 million, or $1.36 per share, on revenues of $60.1 million. The company said the results were due primarily to warmer-than-normal winter weather, which reduced demand for natural gas for heat.

- Staff report

Deficit climbs, but is below '94

WASHINGTON - The federal deficit ballooned by nearly $50 billion in March, 54.5 percent larger than for the same month a year ago.

But for the first half of the fiscal year, there still was less red ink than for the same period in 1994, the Treasury Department said Friday.

The deficit for the six months ending March 31 was $144 billion, 4.1 percent less than the $150.1 billion for the comparable period last year. The government collected $614.3 billion in the first half of fiscal 1995 and spent $758.4 billion.

In March, the government collected $92.5 billion and spent $142.5 billion. That compares to $93.1 billion and $125.4 billion, respectively, for March 1994.

The deficit for all of fiscal 1994 was $203.4 billion, down from $255.1 billion in 1993 and a record $290.4 billion in fiscal 1992.

The Clinton administration forecasts the fiscal 1995 deficit will be $192.5 billion and then will begin to climb because of rising health care costs.

- Associated Press

Bankruptcies

Three bankruptcies with business affiliations have been filed in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for Western Virginia at Roanoke. One of them is a personal bankruptcy that the court listed as a business because it has commercial connections and could be of interest to business creditors and customers.

Helm Heating and Cooling Inc. of Shawsville filed for liquidation. President Richard K. Helm said assets were $6,457 and liabilities totaled $157,214.

Danny Triplett Wood Products of Bristol, a logging business, sought liquidation with assets of $151,500 and liabilities of $288,437.

George Gustav Pitts of Roanoke, a self-employed contract programmer, filed for liquidation, listing assets of $70,400 and liabilities of $1,133,356.