THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, February 28, 1996 TAG: 9602280489
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: D1 EDITION: FINAL
LENGTH: Long : 116 lines
University of Virginia Health Sciences Center officials have frozen hiring and want to shrink the Charlottesville center's 6,800-person work force by almost 700 employees by the end of 1997. The center, which includes the U.Va. Medical Center, the medical and nursing schools and a medical library, plans to accomplish the downsizing through attrition. The medical center also plans to cut overtime and travel costs. The belt-tightening comes three weeks after the medical center spent $8.1 million more in the quarter that ended in December than in the same 1994 quarter, jeopardizing its profit margin and AA bond rating. (Associated Press) Lockheed Martin extends offer for Loral shares
Lockheed Martin Corp. said it extended until March 20 its offer to buy all Loral Corp. common shares for $38 a share. Bethesda, Md.-based Lockheed Martin said about 60.3 million shares of New York-based Loral - roughly a third of its shares - had been tendered as of Monday under the offer, which would have expired this Thursday without the extension. Lockheed Martin agreed in January to buy all of Loral's stock for $7 billion and to assume $2.1 billion of Loral debt. In addition, Loral shareholders will get one share of a newly formed satellite and telecommunications company. (Dow Jones News Service) Zeos computers zapped by parent, Micron
Micron Electronics Inc. will discontinue its Zeos line of personal computers and shutter its manufacturing operations in Minneapolis, effective April 30, the company said. Boise, Idaho-based Micron will continue to provide technical and warranty support for the Zeos brand. About 300 workers will be affected by the moves. A Minneapolis customer-service center will remain open. The costs of the closing are expected to reduce earnings by $30 million and result in a loss in its second fiscal quarter. Micron Electronics is 80 percent owned by Micron Technology Inc., a computer-chip maker also based in Boise. (Dow Jones) Revlon freshens up offer, boosts initial stock price
Revlon Inc. boosted the price of its initial public offering by about 17 percent, from $23 to $25 a share, reflecting strong investor demand for the cosmetics company's stock, said underwriter Merrill Lynch & Co. The world's second-largest cosmetics company plans to sell 7.5 million shares of common today, raising a total of about $180 million. The company, controlled by financier Ronald O. Perelman, originally intended to sell the stock at a price of $19 to $22 apiece, according to filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. (Bloomberg Business News) Slow Christmas socks retailers' profits
The dismal Christmas shopping season took a bite out of retailer's profits, with three big store owners reporting that fourth-quarter earnings fell from a year earlier. The profit declines reported by the nation's biggest retailer, Wal-Mart Stores Inc., and May Department Stores Co. and The Limited Inc., came after consumers spent cautiously and forced many retailers to take heavy price markdowns during the holiday season. Wal-Mart said its earnings fell 9 percent during the quarter ended Jan. 31 to $942 million, or 41 cents per share, from $1.03 billion, or 45 cents per share, in the same quarter the previous year. May, parent of the Hechts chain, said fourth-quarter earnings fell 9 percent, in part because of a one-time $44 million after-tax charge related to the closing and relocation of about 450 Payless Shoesource stores. Without the special charge, May said it would have eked out a 1.2 percent gain for the period. The Limited said its fourth-quarter earnings dropped 16 percent. (Associated Press) Furniture maker plans plant in Patrick County
Vaughan Furniture Co. said it will build a $10 million plant in Patrick County that will create 300 jobs in 2 1/2 years. The Galax-based company also looked at a site in Tennessee for the 250,000-square-foot plant before settling on a site in southwest Virginia. The company, which makes wooden bedroom furniture, had sales of $105 million last year. Gov. George Allen's administration gave Patrick County a $350,000 grant to improve the site for the plant. (AP) BMW boosts investment in S.C. vehicle plant
German car maker BMW AG said it will invest an additional $200 million at its South Carolina factory, bringing its total investment in the state to more than $800 million. BMW said it will add about 300,000 square feet of manufacturing space to the plant, which now contains 1.2 million square feet, and employs about 1,500 workers. The expansion increases the daily capacity of 3-series sedans and Z3 roadsters to 400 cars from 300. (Dow Jones News Service) Sterile mulling bid for $118 million buyout
Sterile Concepts Holdings Inc. of Richmond said it is reviewing a $118 million takeover offer from Maxxim Medical Inc. Maxxim, a medical products maker based in Sugar Land, Texas, offered $16 in cash or newly issued shares, or a combination of the two, for each Sterile Concepts common share. The total purchase price includes the assumption of about $29 million in debt. Sterile makes disposable surgical trays packaged with disposable surgical tools. The combined company would have annual sales of more than $500 million. (Dow Jones) Phone companies firm cable set-top purchase
A partnership of Bell Atlantic Corp., Nynex Corp. and Pacific Telesis Group said it finalized a $1 billion contract for the design and manufacture of wireless television set-top boxes by Thomson Consumer Electronics. The agreement, announced last September, calls for the delivery of as many as 3 million set-top units through 1999. New York-based Tele-TV said it will use the boxes to provide entertainment and information services to customers, including Hampton Roads, late this year. The consortium plans to offer the services through multi-channel microwave systems, better known as wireless cable, in which it has a major investment. (Bloomberg Business News) by CNB