New WorldCom exec to focus on customers

CLINTON, Miss. - Michael Capellas, who Friday took the job as head of WorldCom Inc., said he will steer the telephone company out of the largest U.S. bankruptcy in one piece by persuading large customers to stay.

"Over the next 100 days, we've got to really focus on three things. Number One: customer first, customer first, customer first," Mr. Capellas, 48, said in New York. "We're going to have to go out and really make sure we take care of them."

The former Hewlett-Packard Co. president has the task of turning around a company that filed for bankruptcy protection in July after misreporting $9 billion in expenses under the helm of founder Bernard Ebbers. Customers such as AMR Corp.'s American Airlines have defected, while others including Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and Johnson & Johnson remain.

Smucker goes well with peanut butter

ORRVILLE, Ohio - J.M. Smucker Co. on Friday said fiscal second-quarter profit soared as sales nearly doubled following the addition of Jif peanut butter and Crisco shortening and cooking oil to the company's product line.

The maker of jams and jellies reported net income of $29.1 million, or 58 cents a share, for the quarter ended Oct. 31, up sharply from $7.7 million, or 33 cents a share, a year earlier.

Conseco writing down some assets

CARMEL, Ind. - Conseco Inc., the insurance and finance company trying to restructure more than $6 billion in debt, will report a third-quarter loss of about $1.8 billion as it writes down the value of securities and goodwill.

The company, whose shares have lost 98 percent of their value this year, also said in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission that it will postpone releasing its quarterly financial statements, which were due Friday. The delay suggests Conseco's businesses have deteriorated further since it began discussions with its creditors in August, analysts said.