Thursday, September 20, 2001
Business Digest
Kodak cuts projections
Eastman Kodak Co. slashed third-quarter profit projections to reflect a yearlong slump in film sales it blames largely on a lagging economy and, most recently, fallout from last week's terror attacks. Its stock price dropped more than 5 percent.
The world's biggest photography company said Wednesday it will cut an unspecified number of jobs from its global payroll of 78,400. It already targeted 3,500 job cuts in April and cut its earnings projections in last year's third and fourth quarters.
In trading on the New York Stock Exchange, Kodak shares fell $2.22 to close at $37.61, recovering from a decline of nearly 13 percent earlier in the day.
Wireless sales surge
Wireless phone stocks rose broadly Wednesday as the industry reported a surge in sales following last week's terrorist attacks.
In the week after four hijacked planes crashed in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania, several wireless carriers, including Verizon Wireless and AT&T Wireless Services, said sales of their services have jumped, particularly in the Northeast.
Shares of Verizon, the nation's largest wireless carrier, rose $2.20, or 4.3 percent, to close at $53.90 on the New York Stock Exchange, while AT&T Wireless Services was up $1.02, or 7.3 percent, to $15.
Since the attacks, Verizon Wireless shares have risen 6 percent; AT&T Wireless jumped 9.4 percent.
LSI to fire 600
LSI Logic Corp. said it will fire 600 workers, or about 8 percent of its worldwide work force, as it consolidates plants to cope with declining sales. Shares of the biggest maker of custom semiconductors fell as much as 26 percent.
The firings are mainly in Colorado Springs, Colo., where an aging plant will be closed by the end of October, spokesman Kevin Brett said. A smaller facility in Santa Clara, Calif., also will be closed. After the firings, the company will have 6,900 workers, he said.
Bristol buys in
Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. agreed to buy a 20 percent stake in ImClone Systems Inc. for $1 billion, gaining a promising biotechnology-based drug to help defend its leading position in cancer medicines.
Bristol-Myers is offering $70 for each ImClone share it would buy, 40 percent more than Wednesday's closing price. Bristol-Myers has also agreed to make $1 billion in milestone payments to ImClone, the company said in a statement.
ImClone shares rose $6.59, or 13 percent, to $56.60. Shares of Bristol-Myers fell 49 cents to $56. Both companies are based in New York.
Japan expands mad cow tests
Japan announced Wednesday it was expanding testing for the deadly mad cow disease to as many as 1 million cattle, a measure it hopes will eradicate the brain-wasting illness and restore faith in the country's ailing meat industry.
Adopting strict European testing standards, Japan will target all cattle older than 30 months that are destined for human consumption, the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry said in a statement. The massive screening, to be carried out at 117 testing centers, begins next month.
Japan's Agriculture Ministry announced last week that it had found a possible mad cow case that would be the first in Asia.
Airlines slash more jobs
Military news slows Dow spiral
Meal suppliers ready
Pre-terror economy had slowed
Cintas has healthy 1st-quarter sales
Computer worm spreads rapidly
Transport had unusual week
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