Groceries back in Kmart

        Fleming Cos. has resumed shipping products to Kmart Corp., after a bankruptcy court approved a payment of $76 million to the supplier, Fleming said Thursday.

        Fleming, the primary food and consumer products supplier to Kmart, was named a critical vendor by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Illinois, where the nation's third-largest discounter filed for Chapter 11 on Tuesday.

        Bill Marquard, executive vice president of Fleming, said the inventory for Kmart stores began leaving warehouses Wednesday.

Lilly earnings down

        Eli Lilly and Co. on Thursday reported a 25 percent decline in earnings for the fourth quarter as the drugmaker suffered from the loss of its patent on Prozac and the emergence of a less expensive generic version of the antidepressant pill.

        Net income fell to $575.4 million, or 53 cents per share, for the October-December period from $767.3 million, or 70 cents a share, a year ago.

        Excluding one-time charges from a research project and debt refinancing, Lilly earned $656.2 million, or 60 cents per share, in the latest quarter.

Bayer debuts on NYSE

        Shares of Bayer posted a modest rise Thursday in the German pharmaceutical company's debut on the New York Stock Exchange.

        Trading under the ticker symbol BAY, the U.S. shares opened at $33.09 and rose to close at $33.17 Thursday in New York. In Frankfurt, Bayer closed at 36.91 euros ($32.42) Wednesday and rose 2 percent Thursday to close at 37.61 euros ($33).

        The company has long had a presence in the United States. Its U.S. subsidiary, Bayer Corp., was founded in 1865 and developed Bayer Aspirin 34 years later.

Tyco shares drop

        Tyco International Ltd. shares fell 1.6 percent, dropping for a second day, as investors showed continued disapproval of its plan to split into four companies

        Shares of Tyco, which makes products including security systems, medical supplies and clothing hangers, fell 73 cents to $44.37 after losing 5.2 percent yesterday.

        Tyco announced the plan Tuesday after criticism that chief executive officer Dennis Kozlowski's $64 billion acquisition spree in the past eight years masked slowing sales growth.

Free flights easier to get
Record disposal can be justified
Greenspan's outlook rosier
Volunteer group targets young execs
Convergys Corp. profit increases
Wal-Mart about to hit top of Fortune 500
Growth in Web domain names slows
Business Digest
Industry notes: Manufacturing
Tristate Summary
Morning Memo
What's the Buzz?