THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, February 7, 1997 TAG: 9702070570
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: D3 EDITION: FINAL
LENGTH: 91 lines
Ford Motor Co. prepared to halt production at three plants and idle 6,800 workers because of a strike at a supplier that makes seats for some of its vehicles. Negotiators for the supplier, Johnson Control Inc., and the United Auto Workers union Thursday sought to resolve the walkout by about 500 workers at plants in Michigan and Ohio. It would affect 4,000 employees at Ford's Michigan Truck plant in Wayne. In Ohio, a work stoppage would idle 1,500 workers at Ford's Lorain Assembly Plant and 1,300 at the assembly plant in Avon Lake. (Associated Press) Blessings to expand stock buyback program
Blessings Corp., based in Newport News, said its board of directors voted not to declare a quarterly dividend on its common stock effective with the quarterly dividend otherwise payable on March 1, 1997. The previous quarterly dividend of $.10 per share was paid on Dec. 1, 1996. Also, the company said it plans to acquire up to 1,000,000 shares of its common stock in a new and expanded Stock Buyback Program. The company reported that the program provides for the purchase of shares of common stock from time to time in the open market, or in privately negotiated transactions, in amounts and at prices it deems appropriate. (Staff) Owens & Minor signs contract with HealthSouth
Owens & Minor, Inc., based in Richmond, said it has signed a five-year, medical/surgical supply distribution agreement with HealthSouth Corporation, a Birmingham, Ala.-based provider of rehabilitative healthcare service. The agreement provides for estimated annual sales of $25 million and $125 million over the life of the contract. HealthSouth provides outpatient surgery rehabilitation services, diagnostic and physician services within one facility, in more than 700 locations. This will enable Owens & Minor to leverage its core competencies to provide high quality service to HealthSouth's entire healthcare system. (Staff) Heilig-Meyhers buying home furnishing chain
Heilig-Meyers Co. is buying another home furnishings chain. The Richmond-based furniture giant said Wednesday it plans to purchase the 10-store chain operated by Richard B. Levitz Sons Inc. of Dallas. Those stores operate under The RoomStore name in central Texas. Heilig-Meyers plans to pay for the purchase by issuing 750,000 shares of its stock, making the deal worth nearly $10 million based on Wednesday's closing price of $13.25 per share. The RoomStore stores, which sell furniture in complete room packages, are profitable, generating about $60 million annually, Heilig-Meyers said. The company plans to retain the name and operate the stores in the same format. In late December, Heilig-Meyers bought 106 Rhodes Inc. stores. It also bought smaller chains in Washington state and California. Heilig-Meyers operates 795 stores under that name and 105 using the Rhodes name in 32 states. It also has 32 Berrios stores in Puerto Rico. (AP) RJR to move billboard located near schools
R.J. Reynolds missed the Joe Camel billboard near a school in its own hometown, but a fourth-grader didn't. Reynolds said Wednesday it will remove the advertisement, as well as a second billboard that was found to be in violation of federal laws banning such ads within 500 feet of a school or playground. The tobacco maker, which is based in Winston-Salem, said it will conduct a nationwide survey to make sure no other billboards violate the policy. A fourth-grader first raised the issue at Brunson elementary school late last year. Reynolds officials checked and found its Joe Camel cartoon character located 364 feet from classrooms. Another billboard was found 444 feet from a second elementary school, the company said. Reynolds spokesman Richard Williams said he does not know how the company failed to notice the billboards. (AP) Correction
If Norfolk Southern Corp. is able to buy Conrail Inc., Standard & Poor's said that ``the current $10 billion level of Norfolk Southern's debt financed bid increases the chance of a noninvestment grade rating for a combined Norfolk Southern-Conrail entity.'' In a Dec. 5 story about Moody's Investor Service and S&P downgrading Norfolk Southern's long-term debt, the likelihood of such a rating was misrepresented. The former grade of Norfolk Southern's debt also was not ``top'' as the story indicated, but the debt was graded double-A, or just under the top rating. It still maintains the highest debt rating in the railroad industry.
Clarification
Elizabeth River Terminals may be for sale, but the Chesapeake dry-bulk cargo terminal won't necessarily go to the highest bidder. ``We are talking to a limited number of prospects and it is not about the best offer,'' said Cees van de Mortel, president and chief executive of the subsidiary of Van Ommeren N.V., the Dutch shipping giant. ``We are looking for an owner who will be good for the business, good for our employees and good for our reputation in the U.S. . . . We don't want to sell to some flight-by-night operator. There are many more issues than price.''