Business memo 02/18/02

Car sales down, but other sales up

Consumers trimmed their spending on cars as free-financing offers waned, contributing to a modest drop in sales at the nation's retailers in January.

Outside of autos, sales rose by the largest amount in nearly two years, a promising sign as the country tries to come out of a recession.

Bargain-hungry shoppers last month snapped up clothing that had been heavily discounted, and they spent briskly on other items, including building supplies, health and beauty products, and home furnishings.

Although overall retail sales dipped by 0.2 percent in January, after rising by that same amount the month before, virtually all of the weakness came from a drop in car and truck sales. Excluding auto sales, sales rose by 1.2 percent in January, the biggest advance since March 2000, the Commerce Department reported last week.

Training fund to go to two Cape companies

The Missouri Department of Economic Development has committed funding from the Missouri Job Development Fund to provide training for employees of Biokyowa Inc., and Lone Star Industries Inc. of Cape Girardeau.

The funding will come through the Customized Training Program and the two companies will receive $25,300 to train 100 new and current employees.

The Missouri Customized Training Program offers funding for either classroom skill training or on-the-job training. Companies with a net gain of employees in Missouri or companies making a capital investment in manufacturing are eligible for the program.

SBC named one of top companies for women

SBC Communications Inc. (NYSE: SBC) is one of the country's Top 25 Companies for Executive Women, according to the National Association for Female Executives (NAFE). This marks the third consecutive year SBC has been recognized for providing opportunities for women at all levels of the company.

SBC ranks 12th on this year's list and is the only telecommunications company to make NAFE's top 25 ranking, which recognizes companies that provide the best opportunities for women among Fortune 1000 companies.

To make the Top 25 list, a Fortune 1000 company must have at least two women on its board of directors, a high proportion of women at all levels of the organization, and a steadily increasing percentage of women in senior management. NAFE also analyzed how companies measure women's progress and hold managers accountable, particularly with financial incentives. Other considerations included the existence of programs that groom women for upper management, mentoring initiatives, networking, and flexible work arrangements and child-care benefits.

Hewlett-Packard profits beat forecasts

First-quarter profits at Hewlett-Packard Co. more than tripled on strong computer and printer sales to consumers, beating analysts' recently raised forecasts. Even so, executives said Wednesday that HP still needs to buy Compaq Computer Corp. to solve long-term problems.

HP is fighting hard to rally support for the $22.6 billion Compaq deal against intense opposition from dissident director Walter Hewlett, who said the strong earnings report proved that HP would be fine without taking on Compaq.

Chairwoman and chief executive Carly Fiorina carefully used the earnings report to tout HP's execution in a tough atmosphere and to lament the company's holes -- notably in business PCs, networked data-storage systems and low-end servers.

Senate expands programs for farmers

The Senate has approved an election-year expansion of farm programs that would increase subsidies for grain and cotton growers and also double spending for conservation.

The Democratic-crafted bill, which was approved 58-40, would authorize $45 billion in new spending over the next five years, a 27 percent increase over programs that expire this fall.

It would mean more assistance to grain and cotton growers, who traditionally have dominated farm programs, and add new subsidies for commodities including milk, honey, wool and lentils.

Unlike a House-passed version, the Senate legislation would impose a strict new limit of $275,000 on payments that any one farm could receive. Some subsidies are now essentially unlimited.

-- From staff, wire reports