IBM profits fall 97% in second quarter

        NEW YORK - Second-quarter profits at technology giant IBM Corp. plummeted by 97 percent, after the company took $1.4 billion in charges for the sell-off of its hard disk business, the reorganization of its chip-making operation and the shedding of thousands of jobs.

        IBM said Wednesday that it earned $56 million, or 3 cents per share, in the quarter ended June 30, compared with $2 billion, or $1.15 per share, in the second quarter of 2001.

Ford reports $570 million profit

        BIRMINGHAM, Mich. - Ford Motor Co. ended a streak of four consecutive quarterly losses with a $570 million profit in the April-June period, but its chief financial officer said the automaker may be forced to look for additional cost reductions including job and pay cuts beyond those previously outlined in its 7-month-old restructuring program.

        The world's second biggest automaker earned $570 million, or 29 cents a share, in the three months ended in June, in contrast to a loss of $752 million, or 42 cents a share, a year ago.

Phar-Mor OKs buyer; stores to be closed

        YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio - Discount drug chain Phar-Mor Corp. has selected a winning bidder to purchase the bankrupt company's assets.

        Phar-Mor's remaining 73 stores will be closed as part of the roughly $141 million sale.

        The winning bid came from a joint venture of Giant Eagle, CVS Corp. and investment firms Ozer Group of Boston and Hilco Merchant Resources of Chicago.

        Giant Eagle and CVS will take over the prescriptions lists at the remaining stores and hire up to 80 Phar-Mor pharmacists to meet the increased demand.

        Giant Eagle also will give preferential hiring status to hundreds of Phar-Mor's 3,500 employees.

AT&T: David Dorman named CEO

        NEW YORK — AT&T Corp. said President David Dorman, who headed the company's failed Concert joint venture, will succeed C. Michael Armstrong as chairman and chief executive officer as the largest U.S. long-distance telephone company tries to reverse a sales decline.

        Mr. Dorman, 48, joined the company as president in December 2000 and was appointed to the board in February, AT&T said.

        Mr. Armstrong, 64, plans to leave by 2003, when the sale of the cable-television unit to Comcast Corp. is scheduled to close.

Post office approves printing stamps

        WASHINGTON - Americans will be able to print out sheets of postage stamps on their personal computers, using a system approved Wednesday by the Postal Service.

        Individual stamps can be printed using computer software supplied by private vendors.

        The new system will allow printing of sheets of 25 stamps at a time.

        Stamps.com, based in Santa Monica, Calif., is the first company approved to offer the service, called NetStamps.

        It will supply the software and stamp printing service, the post office said.

Dick's Sporting Goods files $200M IPO

        WASHINGTON — Dick's Sporting Goods Inc., a retailer of athletic equipment and clothing, filed to raise as much as $200 million in an initial public offering as stock in larger rivals such as Gart Sports Co. dropped amid fears the companies are expanding too rapidly.

        Pittsburgh-based Dick's intends to use the money raised in the IPO to open new stores, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Dick's plan to sell stock follows planned secondary offerings by Gart Sports and Sports Authority Inc. and a first-time stock sale by Big 5 Sporting Goods Corp. last month.

Deutsche Telekom's CEO resigns

        FRANKFURT, Germany - Shares in Deutsche Telekom rose Wednesday after the debt-laden German phone giant's chief resigned and the company pledged to pursue a “consolidation course” as it looks for a permanent replacement.

        Telekom chief executive Ron Sommer quit late Tuesday under political pressure brought on by the slump in the company's stock.

        The stock closed up 9.79 percent at 12 euros ($12.14) Wednesday on the Frankfurt exchange.

— Enquirer wire services

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