Staff/wire reports

Covington-based Regent Communications Monday swapped two Lancaster, Pa., and four Erie, Pa., radio stations and an undetermined amount of cash for five Citadel Broadcasting Corp. stations in Bloomington, Ill.

The cash that changes hands will be based on a multiple of 7.5 times the difference in annual station operating income between the former Regent stations and former Citadel stations. Also Monday, Regent completed a station swap with Clear Channel Communications: four Regent stations serving Duluth, Minn., and $2.7 million for Clear Channel's five stations serving Evansville, Ind.

The deals mean that Regent will own and operate 75 stations in 15 markets.

Bob Evans expects earnings will fall

Columbus-based Bob Evans Farms Inc., the sausage maker and U.S. restaurant chain owner, said after markets closed Monday that it expects to earn $2.05 a share in 2004, less than the company had previously forecast.

Shares fell as low as $28.55 in extended trading after shedding 10 cents to $32.15 in composite trading on the Nasdaq Stock Market. In November, the company forecast that it would earn between $2.07 and $2.10 a share in fiscal 2004. The new estimate is less than the $2.10 earned by Bob Evans a year earlier, according to a statement distributed by PR Newswire.

Lower-than-expected sales, increased food costs and higher expenses in preparing to open restaurants drove the company's restaurant segment's operating income lower, which has hurt earnings, Bob Evans said.