THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, February 17, 1996 TAG: 9602170443
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: D1 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Briefs
LENGTH: Medium: 51 lines
AT&T will raise basic long-distance rates for most of its 80 million residential customers by an average 40 cents per month starting Saturday. The nation's largest long-distance company said Friday the 4.3 percent increase - the first for residential customers in more than a year - is needed to bring prices closer to the cost of providing service. Discounts offered through various AT&T calling plans would not be affected by the basic rate increase. (Associated Press) The Dial Corp. splitting into two companies
The Dial Corp. joins the ranks of AT&T, ITT Corp. and other broken-up big businesses in announcing a major restructuring plan that will divide the $3.5 billion diversified company in two. Dial, maker of the nation's No. 1 deodorant soap, said Thursday that it would separate its consumer products and service business. Each will be publicly traded companies, and no job losses or plant closings are expected, executives said. (AP) Bankrupt furniture company offers customers $3 million
The owners of Edgar B Industries, a bankrupt mail-order furniture company, have offered a $3 million settlement to its customers. J. Edgar Broyhill II, the company's president and founder, said he hopes the offer approved Wednesday by a federal bankruptcy judge will restore confidence among the company's 4,500 depositors. Each depositor will receive up to $1,800 as part of the settlement. The agreement is the latest development in a bankruptcy that tarnished one of the biggest names in the furniture industry. Broyhill is the son of former U.S. Rep. James T. Broyhill and the grandson of James E. Broyhill, who founded Broyhill Furniture Industries in 1926. The company was sold to Interco Inc. in 1980 for $151.5 million. (AP) Fewer passengers fly through Norfolk airport
The Norfolk Airport Authority reported this week that 10.3 percent fewer passengers flew through the Norfolk International Airport in January than in the same month last year. The airport handled 179,733 arriving and departing passengers last month, down from 200,468 in January 1995. Last month, the nation's airlines boosted air fares because of robust travel. The January slide continues the 1995 trend of fewer fliers using the airport due to the absence of air-fare wars and the withdrawal of Continental Airlines' low-fare Peanuts experiment. (Staff) by CNB