THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, April 16, 1996 TAG: 9604160416
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: D1 EDITION: FINAL
LENGTH: Medium: 59 lines
Smithfield Packing Co. has signed a long-term agreement to provide pork products to JP Foodservice Inc., a Columbia, Md.-based restaurant and food-service distributor. JP cited the market potential for Smithfield Lean Generation Pork as an important factor in its decision. ``Our products are leaner than industry standards, and we take extra care in preparation,'' said Thomas D. Davis, president of Smithfield Packing. Smithfield Packing is a subsidiary of Smithfield-based Smithfield Foods Inc. which produces, processes and markets pork products. Among the company's brands are Smithfield, Luter's, Gwaltney, John Morrell and Esskay. (Associated Press) Union Camp planning to buy Alling & Cory Co.
Union Camp Corp. said Monday it will acquire Alling & Cory Co., a distributor of paper and packaging products, for about $88 million. Alling & Cory, of Rochester, N.Y., distributes business communications and printing papers, industrial packaging and business products. The company operates 15 distribution centers and 20 retail paper shops in New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Ohio and West Virginia, and an envelope-converting operation in Hamburg, N.Y. It had sales of $773 million last year. Union Camp, of Wayne, N.J., operates a paper plant in Franklin. (AP) Construction executives expect work to rebound
Dun & Bradstreet Corp.'s monthly survey of construction executives throughout the nation found business has fallen to the lowest level in nearly three years. But executives expect construction orders and employment will rebound this summer. ``These upbeat expectations are surprising given the sector's weak performance since January, and on the surface the overall economy does not appear to favor an immediate building surge,'' said Dun & Bradstreet chief economist Joseph W. Duncan. ``Interest rates appear to have bottomed out for the foreseeable future, and many construction firms expect prices to climb higher. However, the long winter has not only delayed construction projects in many parts of the country, but very likely accelerated the need for repairs.'' (AP) Investment firms happy with first quarter reports
Merrill Lynch & Co., Paine Webber Group Inc. and Smith Barney Inc. said the first quarter was the best ever for Wall Street earnings as revenue from commissions, trading and investment banking gushed. Merrill Lynch's earnings rose 80 percent from the year-earlier period, Paine Webber's almost tripled and Smith Barney's more than doubled. ``I knew they'd be strong, but I didn't think they'd be this strong,'' said independent analyst John Keefe. Almost everything went right for Wall Street through most of the first quarter. ``This past quarter had the sun, the moon and the stars all lined up for a very favorable environment,'' said Merrill Lynch's president, David H. Komansky. (Bloomberg Business News) by CNB