MEMO

D&K Wholesale Drug Inc., headquartered in St. Louis, announced that net sales for the third quarter of fiscal 1995, ending Dec. 31, increased 54 percent from the same quarter a year ago.

Sales increased to $86.389 million up from the $56.054 million of the third quarter of fiscal 1994. Net income for the latest quarter was $432,000, or 16 cents a share on a primary basis, compared to income of $190,000 or 8 cents a share in the previous third quarter.

Nine months net sales increased 41.5 percent to $219,136,000 up from the $154,846,000 totals of the previous year.

D&K Wholesale Drug Inc. is a full-service, regional wholesale distributor, supplying customers from facilities in Cairo, Ill., and Lexington, Ky.

D&K has announced it will move its Cairo operation to Cape Girardeau this year.

Joe Coad, president of ANCAP Management of Cape Girardeau, has donated $3,000 to the Shawnee Community College Foundation to be used for vocational scholarships in the college's automotive technology department.

Coad, who says he owes a lot to the vocational education he received in school, started his automotive career working as a mechanic in his father's garage in the early 1950s. He obtained his first dealership at Ridgeway, Ill. ANCAP Management currently owns Coad Chevrolet Oldsmobile Cadillac Geo in Anna, Ill.; Coad Chevrolet in Cape Girardeau and Brennecke Chevrolet in Jackson. Together, the three dealerships sell more than 4,000 new and used vehicles a year.

Commerce Bancshares Inc. has declared an increase in the regular first-quarter cash dividend, to 18 cents per share, payable March 31 to stockholders of record March 8.

The dividend represents an 11.1 percent increase from the previous dividend rate.

Commerce Bancshares Inc., a registered bank holding company, operates facilities in 180 sites in Illinois, Kansas and Missouri, including Cape Girardeau.

Newell Co., headquartered in Freeport, Ill., has announced record levels for fourth-quarter and full-year sales and earnings.

Newell purchased Lee-Rowan Co., Levolor and Goody in 1993, and acquired Home Fashions Inc. and Eberhard Faber in 1994.

Net sales for the fourth quarter of 1994, were a record $584.7 million, up 22 percent from $481.4 million during the fourth quarter of 1993. Net income for the quarter increased 12 percent, from $55.4 million in 1993 to $62.1 million.

Full-year sales for 1994 were up 26 percent, to $2.075 million, from $1.645 million in 1993. Net income for the year was $195.6 million, up 18 percent from $165.3 million in 1993. Earnings per share were $1.24, up 18 percent, from $1.05 in 1993.

Newell manufactures and markets a variety of staple consumer products, sold through retail and wholesale distribution. Product categories include housewares, hardware, home furnishings and office products.

Anheuser-Busch's fourth-quarter earnings rose 5.3 percent on stronger beer sales and record attendance at its theme parks, the St. Louis company announced recently.

Net earnings for the quarter ended Dec. 31 were $176 million, or 68 cents a share, compared with net earnings of $167 million, or 62 cents a share, last year at this time. Revenue rose 2.7 percent to $3.35 billion from $3.26 billion.

For the full year, net earnings were $1.03 billion, or $3.88 a share, on revenue of $13.7 billion, compared with $595 million, or $2.17 a share, on revenue of $13.2 billion, during the previous year.

Beer sales increased to a record 88.5 million barrels in 1994, up from the 87.3 million sold in 1993. The company's domestic market share rose to 45 percent, compared to 44.7 percent last year.

Busch Entertainment produced double-digit profit growth with record attendance in 1994. The company is the nation's second-largest theme park operator with 10 in the United States, including Busch Gardens in Tampa, Fla., and the Sea World chain.

"Business After Hours," sponsored by the Chamber of Commerce's Membership Committee, will be held Feb. 21, at the Show Me Center, from 5 to 6:30 p.m.

This month's meeting is sponsored by South East Missouri Bank, 111 S. Broadview.

The nation's unemployment rate shot up to 5.7 percent in January as job creation fell to a 12-month low. But the Clinton administration and many private economists contend there's plenty of vitality left in the economy.

The jobless rate, up from 5.3 percent in December, matched the level of October, the Labor Department reported. At the same time, it said payrolls increased by just 134,000, the smallest rise in a year.