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Northwest Digest
Washington Mutual home-loan offices to be sold instead

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Last week WaMu, whose mortgage-banking unit is reeling from the impact of rising interest rates and high expenses, said it would close 100 loan centers in noncore markets across the country, eliminating 1,840 jobs in the process.

Instead, American Home Mortgage Investment of Melville, N.Y., will buy an unspecified number of offices in 18 states, mostly in the markets WaMu is planning to leave. Those centers employ about 500 people. Financial terms of the deal, expected to close Tuesday, were not disclosed.

None of the offices being sold or closed is in Washington state.

"While exiting a market is never an easy decision, we are a growing company that's focused primarily on markets where we can offer customers both home loans and retail-banking services," Tony Meola, WaMu's executive vice president of mortgage production, said in a statement.

Starbucks

"Light" Frappuccino fuels sales increase

SEATTLE — Starbucks said yesterday that sales at stores open at least a year rose 10 percent this month, fueled by the introduction of its new low-calorie "light" Frappuccino iced blended coffee drinks.

Revenue at the world's largest coffee-shop chain rose to $409 million for the four weeks ended July 25, up 27 percent from the same period a year earlier.

July marked the ninth straight month of double-digit gains for Seattle-based Starbucks.

The same-store sales increase exceeded Starbucks' projection for monthly increases of 3 to 7 percent, but the company has said sales were likely to top that range over the near term.
 
Cell Therapeutics

9 million shares net $43 million

SEATTLE — Cell Therapeutics said yesterday it sold 9 million shares of stock at $4.75 a share in an offering that raised about $43 million in cash.

The Seattle biotech company said earlier this month it intended to sell 8 million shares to support its cancer-drug development, but it chose to sell more shares after its stock price declined.

UBS Securities and CIBC World Markets were the lead underwriters, and were assisted by WR Hambrecht, Delafield Hambrecht and Punk, Ziegel. The company has granted the underwriters the option to buy 1.35 million more shares. In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the company said the underwriters will get about $2.6 million in discounts and fees, leaving net proceeds to the company of just over $40 million.

Cell Therapeutics completed the offering a day after it reported its second-quarter financial results, in which it disclosed it had $90 million in cash.

In a conference call, Chief Executive James Bianco said the company is cutting $15 million of its spending in 2004 to make sure it doesn't lose more than the $118 million to $127 million loss it forecasted this year.

Microsoft

Security update due out within week

SEATTLE — Microsoft said yesterday that it will release a security update for Internet Explorer within the next week. The company's Web browser program has been targeted lately by hackers.

Microsoft said the update will address some of the problems.

The update will be for three versions of Internet Explorer — 5.01, 5.5 and 5.6 — and can be installed on computers running Windows NT, 2000, XP and Windows Server 2003.

Separately, Microsoft said it has partnered with Thomson to develop a broadband and home-network version of the MSN TV set-top box. It's an overhaul of its predecessors, which began as part of the original WebTV and later became MSN TV. The device is designed to play video and music from the Internet or from a personal computer as well as display e-mail and digital photos. It is expected to sell for $199, and will go on sale in October.

Compiled from Seattle Times business staff and Reuters