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Business Digest
Microsoft, Eliot Spitzer team up against spam

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The one-time antitrust foes are set to jointly announce a crackdown on spam today at a news conference at 7:30 a.m. Seattle time. Microsoft's general counsel, Brad Smith, and senior corporate attorney Tim Cranton are expected to participate in the announcement in New York City along with Spitzer, the New York attorney general.

Dow Jones news service reported that Spitzer's office is likely to announce it is filing lawsuits against spammers. Spitzer and Microsoft are no strangers to spam-related lawsuits. Spitzer's office went after Howard Carmack, the notorious "Buffalo Spammer," earlier this year, and the case is expected to go to trial next month. In June, Microsoft filed 15 lawsuits against spammers alleged to have sent illegal and fraudulent messages to MSN and Hotmail users.

New UW center to focus on aviation composites

SEATTLE — The Federal Aviation Administration will establish a research center at the University of Washington that focuses on composite materials for airplanes, Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., said yesterday.

A formal announcement will be made at a news conference today, Cantwell said in a statement.

There was a competition to house the center, which will research the role and safety of composites in commercial aircraft such as the 7E7. Cantwell said the UW won the competition with the help of Boeing and other partners.

Loud Technologies sells Italian division

BELLEVUE — Loud Technologies, a professional audio developer, sold its Italian division for an undisclosed amount last week as the Woodinville company streamlines its worldwide manufacturing operations.

Loud bought the Italian operation, Radio Cine Forniture, in June 1998 and changed the company's name to Mackie Designs (Italy). Loud was known as Mackie Designs until last September.

The sale, which closed Dec. 10, included the company's factory and administrative offices in Reggio Emilia, Italy, the RCF brand name and all Italy-based assets. The deal removed $23 million in debt from Loud's financial statements. Sun Capital Partners, a Boca Raton, Fla.-based investment firm, bought a 65 percent stake in Loud for $10 million in February.

American, Alaska airlines seek expanded code sharing

FORT WORTH, Texas — American Airlines and Alaska Airlines are seeking to expand their ability to sell tickets on each other's flights to more cities.

The airlines yesterday asked the Department of Transportation to expand their so-called code-sharing agreement, which lets customers of one airline earn frequent-flier miles while traveling on the other.

Alaska has put its code on about 600 American flights and has had a reciprocal frequent-flier agreement with American since 1999.

Under the proposed expansion of the agreement, Alaska will put its code on about 1,000 American flights, mostly in the West and Hawaii but also including some transcontinental flights. American said it will place its code on about 450 flights by Alaska Airlines and its regional partner, Horizon Air, to 30 new destinations in the West and Pacific Northwest.

The changes would take effect in February if the Transportation Department approves them.

Nation/World

Intel chip for digital TVs said to be in the works

SAN JOSE, Calif. — Intel plans to develop a chip that could lead to slimmer and cheaper rear-projection TVs.

The move would fall in line with the computer industry's growing attraction to the consumer-electronics market, where digital television sales are soaring and profit margins are still healthy but thinning as competition increases.

A spokesman for Intel, the leading maker of computer microprocessors, would not comment yesterday, citing company policy to not discuss unannounced technologies.

But news of the tech giant's plans, which Intel president and chief operating officer Paul Otelliniare is expected to disclose at next month's Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, is already creating a stir among industry analysts.

Orbitz skyrockets in debut, then settles back to earth

CHICAGO — Orbitz made a roller-coaster debut as a publicly traded company yesterday — its shares initially surging 18 percent before finishing the day below their initial public offering price in heavy volume that underscored investors' revived interest in IPOs.

The 4-year-old Internet travel company, backed by the five biggest U.S. airlines, raised nearly $100 million from the IPO as it takes aim at its two larger competitors in the growing business: Expedia and Travelocity.

The company's stock, priced at $26 per share late Tuesday, began trading around midday on the Nasdaq Stock Market and jumped quickly to $30.75 before tumbling to close at $24.98, down 4 percent. Nearly 19.5 million shares were bought and sold, making it one of the most heavily traded stocks on Wall Street on its first day. Orbitz's IPO comes as investors warm up again to new offerings after many got burned in the dot-com bust.

Motorola files IPO for semiconductor unit

SCHAUMBURG, Ill. — A day after announcing its new chairman and CEO, Motorola proceeded yesterday with plans to spin off its semiconductor unit as a publicly traded firm.

The company filed its registration statement for an initial public offering with the Securities and Exchange Commission under the temporary name SPS Spinco. It said a final name will be chosen before the IPO and up to $2 billion of stock could be sold.

The chip unit, or Semiconductor Products Sector, is Motorola's second-largest division behind cellphones. The company announced its intention to spin off the division in October — after Christopher Galvin had disclosed his intention to resign as Motorola's chief and before Ed Zander was selected to replace him. Zander said in an interview Tuesday that he supports the move.

Costs for staff cuts at FedEx bite into 2nd-quarter profit

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Second-quarter profit at FedEx fell 63 percent from last year because of higher than expected costs of an early retirement and voluntary severance program. The results missed Wall Street expectations and company shares fell more than 3 percent.

The package delivery company reported yesterday profits of $91 million, or 30 cents per share, for the quarter that ended Nov. 30, down from $245 million, or 81 cents a share, for the same period last year.

Excluding costs of the employee reductions, which began in August, FedEx earnings totaled $266 million, or 87 cents per share. That fell short of the 90 cents forecast by analysts surveyed by Thomson First Call.

Enron gets another delay for reorganization hearing

HOUSTON — Enron has received a fifth postponement to present a judge with its plan to emerge from one of the most complex and costly bankruptcies in history.

A filing made yesterday in the bankruptcy case in New York said Houston-based Enron filed a third revision to its proposed reorganization plan and will present it to U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Arthur Gonzalez for preliminary approval on Jan. 6. The latest version of the plan was to be presented to Gonzalez on Monday.

The original reorganization plan was filed in July, and has had two minor revisions as the list of about 24,000 creditors continues to be whittled down. The plan still proposes paying most creditors about one-fifth of the approximate $66.4 billion they are owed.

Compiled from Seattle Times staff and news services.

Copyright © 2003 The Seattle Times Company