Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, September 9, 1995 TAG: 9509110089
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: A4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
PEORIA, Ill. - Caterpillar Inc. and the United Auto Workers said Friday that they will return to the bargaining table Thursday and Friday in Peoria.
Negotiators for the Peoria-based earth-moving equipment maker and the union met for two days last week in Bloomington to try again to resolve issues that triggered a strike by UAW members at Caterpillar plants in Illinois, Colorado and Pennsylvania. That strike has lasted since June 1994.
The talks were recessed Wednesday, the day shots were fired at the homes of two Caterpillar managers. No one was injured. Negotiators said the shootings had nothing to do with the recess.
-Associated Press
Westmoreland ends dividends
Westmoreland Coal Co. of Philadelphia said Friday it was suspending payment of dividends on its preferred stock because it cannot meet the legal requirements under Delaware law.
Westmoreland closed its Virginia operations in Wise and Lee counties this summer and put them up for sale. The idling of the Virginia operations, the company said, creates liabilities that are expected to produce negative shareholders' equity, leaving the company unable to pay preferred stock dividends.
The company, which said it will use available cash to proceed with restructuring, said it cannot predict when it will be able to reinstate dividends.
-Staff report
Sony halts sales of satellite dishes
NEW YORK - Sony Corp. of America halted shipments of its 18-inch satellite dishes to stores after receiving complaints about poor television reception.
But the company said it wouldn't stop retailers from selling dishes already in stock or recall those that have been sold since the product went on the market in June.
``By the end of next week, we expect we will be able to rectify the problem and resume shipping,'' said Richard Clancy, vice president of corporate communications.
About 200 people have complained of problems that include horizontal green lines and images freezing on the screen.
-Associated Press
Bankruptcies
Three bankruptcies with business affiliations have been filed in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for Western Virginia at Roanoke. All three are personal bankruptcies that the court listed as businesses because they have commercial connections and could be of interest to business creditors and customers.
James Allen Gibson Jr. of Cloverdale, trading as G&S Tiling Service, filed for liquidation, listing assets of $54,900 and liabilities of $102,488.
Steven C. Johns and Elizabeth N. Johns of Roanoke filed for liquidation, estimating both assets and liabilities at less than $99,000. Steven Johns trades as Race Mania, selling NASCAR collectibles.
James Bazil Starnes, a carpentry contractor, and Sandra Lynn Starnes of Roanoke filed for a wage-earner plan for repayment of debts. They had assets of $41,860 and liabilities of $44,049.
-Staff report
Briefly ...
Lynn Brae Associates of Roanoke has eight bulls listed in the 1995 Fall Sire Evaluation Report of the American Angus Association.
Laurel Meadows Nursing Home, a 60-bed facility in Carroll County, has been purchased by Heritage Hall XXX L.C. and is being managed by HCMF Corp. of Roanoke. Financing for the $2.7 million purchase was placed by Highland Mortgage Corp. of Birmingham, Ala., under a new federal insured loan program.
Earnings
Best Products Co. Inc., Richmond-based retailer, reported a second-quarter net loss of $7.2 million, equal to 23 cents per share, on sales of $311.8 million, compared with pro forma loss of $1.6 million, equal to 5 cents per share, on sales of $312.2 million a year earlier. The pro forma results reflect the adoption of "fresh start" financial reporting after emerging from Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization in June 1994. For six months, the net loss was $15.2 million, equal to 48 cents per share, on sales of $584.6 million compared with a pro forma loss of $6.5 million, equal to 20 cents, on sales of $586 million.
by CNB