THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, May 31, 1996 TAG: 9605310477
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: D1 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Business Briefs
LENGTH: 76 lines
Sentara joins Owen on drug distribution
Sentara Health System of Hampton Roads and Owen Healthcare of Houston will form a consolidated agency to control drug distribution to all of Sentara's facilities, including hospitals, home care centers and ambulatory care centers. Owen will run the operation from Sentara Norfolk General Hospital. The operation will dispense 5.3 million doses of medication a year and serve about 950 patients a day. Sentara said consolidating the pharmacies for its various facilities will be more efficient and cost effective. Owen Healthcare is the nation's largest hospital pharmacy management company, with $384 million in revenue. It was founded in 1969. (Staff) S&K Famous Brands earnings are up 31 percent
S&K Famous Brands Inc. reported earnings for the first quarter ended April 27, 1996. Net income for the quarter increased 31 percent to $914,000, or 18 cents per share, compared with $695,000, or 14 cents per share, in 1995. Also, sales for the quarter were a record $31.4 million, a 9 percent increase from sales of $28.7 million for the same period last year. S&K Famous Brands Inc. is a retailer of menswear with 188 stores in 27 states. Since its founding in Richmond in 1967, S&K has been an innovator in offering quality apparel and service at affordable prices. (Staff) New home sales are up 6.7 percent in April
Sales of new homes shot up 6.7 percent in April, exceeding 700,000 for a fourth consecutive month as activity surged in the Northeast. Sales rose by smaller amounts in other regions. The Commerce Department said sales of single-family homes overall totaled 776,000 at a seasonally adjusted annual rate, up from a sharply revised 727,000 in March. The March rate originally was estimated at 672,000. Sales also were revised up for January, to a 743,000 rate from 729,000, and for February, to 786,000 from 727,000. Actual sales in 1995 totaled 667,000. (AP) Thirty-year mortgage rates edge up
Thirty-year, fixed-rate mortgages averaged 8.03 percent this week, up from 8.01 percent last week, according to a national survey released Thursday by the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp. Rates had fallen to 6.94 percent in February before they started rising. They now have been above 8 percent for four straight weeks. On one-year adjustable rate mortgages, lenders were asking an average initial rate of 5.76 percent, up from 5.75 percent last week. Fifteen-year mortgages, a popular option for those refinancing mortgages, averaged 7.54 percent this week, up from 7.51 percent a week earlier. The rates do not include add-on fees known as points. (AP) Volume of help wanted ads retreated in April
Employment advertising in newspapers fell last month, mostly due to declines in the Midwest, Southern and Pacific states, the Conference Board reported in a monthly survey released Thursday. The business research group's tally of help-wanted ads showed a strong demand in the Mid-Atlantic and South Atlantic states, but not enough to compensate for the slackness elsewhere. An index based on survey results fell to 82 in April, down from a revised 84 reading in March. The index was 86 in April 1995. Calculated on a base of 100, the index is derived by measuring the volume of help-wanted as in 51 major newspapers across the country. Ad volume has proven to be a sensitive barometer of labor market conditions by measuring changes in the local and regional job supply. (AP) Jobless claims rose 1,000 to 346,000
The number of American workers applying for state unemployment benefits last week rose even as the less-volatile four-week average dipped to the lowest level since last summer, government figures showed. First-time jobless claims rose by 1,000 to a seasonally adjusted 346,000 - roughly in line with analysts' expectations - after falling by an unrevised 7,000 two weeks ago, the Labor Department said. The four-week average for jobless claims, which removes some of the volatility in weekly data, fell to 345,750 last week from 346,250 the previous week. (AP) by CNB