The Philadelphia Inquirer from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania • Page D03

Friday, September 15, 2006 THE PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER www.philly.com D3 Business News in Brief More women named to boards dated Holding a Philadelphia insurer, added one woman and now has three women on its 10-member board. Lincoln National a financial company with Philadelphia headquarters, added one woman, who joined three others on an 11-member board. In addition, Campbell Soup Co. and Cigna Corp. each named a woman to a board seat.

In total, there were 38 board vacancies, of which six were filled by women, according to the survey. Two other local companies, A.C. Moore Arts Crafts Inc. and Penn Virginia each added a woman to their boards after the Forum's research A survey found that 15 of vacant seats on large Phila. corporations were being filled by women.

By Jane M. Von Bergen INQUIRER STAFF WRITER Their goals haven't been met, but leaders of the Forum of Executive Women say they are heartened by an increasing number of women being added to area corporate boards. According to a survey being released today, more than 15 percent of the vacant or new positions on the corporate boards of large Philadelphia companies were filled by women last year, up from 6.06 percent in 2004. It was the sixth annual board survey by the Philadelphia-based group of women leaders in businesses and nonprofit organiza tions. "It is certainly more positive, but we don't need to be jumping up and down yet," said Sally Stetson, cochairwoman of a Forum subcommittee that wants to place more women on corporate boards and in executive suites.

"There's still clearly lots more work to do," said Stetson, a principal in the Radnor-based Salve-son Stetson Group an executive-search firm. The Forum will present its findings this morning at its annual breakfast. University of Pennsylvania president Amy Gutmann is scheduled to speak on "Women and Power in the Knowledge Economy." Tempering the group's optimism are other statistics drawn from the proxy-based survey of the 100 largest publicly traded companies that have either headquarters or a significant pres ence in the region. The number of women in top executive positions the pool from which board members are typically drawn is down. The number of women who are among the top five earners in each company is also down.

Stetson said the Forum stood ready to help companies find qualified board members, either from among businesswomen in this area or through their association with similar executive groups in other cities, including Boston and Atlanta. At this morning's breakfast, the Forum will honor three local companies that have shown a commitment to women in leadership positions. West Pharmaceutical Services of Lionville, added two women to its board last year and now has three women on its 12-mem-ber board. Philadelphia Consoli Contact staff writer Jane M. Von Bergen at 21 5-854-2769 or jvonbergenphillynews.com.

Why cheaper gasoline? the Pump for Average price regular Bank's chief expects to ultimately sell Try supply and demand gasoline in Philadelphia and the four suburban counties in Pennsylvania. $3.25 August 1 Wednesday 3.00 $3.17 $2.69 2.75 148 to lose jobs when ConAgra shuts Folcroft plant ConAgra Foods Inc. said yesterday that it would close a factory in Folcroft during the next 12 to 18 months, eliminating 148 jobs. The closure, one of five listed yesterday, is part of a plan announced in March by the Omaha, company to streamline manufacturing. Production at the Folcroft plant, which makes Andy Capp's potato snacks and Penrose pickled sausages, will shift to other ConAgra plants, including one in Milton, company spokesman Chris Kirchner said.

The Milton plant, near Williamsport, makes Chef Boyardi canned pastas, Gulden's mustard, Crunch 'n Munch snack mix, and some Healthy Choice products. Kirchner said the Milton factory employs more than 850, and is expected to gain more than 100 jobs over the next 12 to 18 months. Harold Brubaker NLRB upholds ruling on division shutdown The National Labor Relations Board has upheld its Feb. 28 decision affirming that USF Corp. did nothing wrong when it abruptly closed its Red Star division after a brief national strike that started in Philadelphia on May 21, 2004.

About 2,000 people, including 200 in Philadelphia, lost their jobs. The Chicago company, now owned by YRC Worldwide Overland Park, had said the strike, which lasted less than 48 hours, caused so much financial harm that the division would have to be shut even before the strikers could return to work. The International Brotherhood of Teamsters had filed an unfair-labor-practice charge before the NLRB, saying the closure was a union-busting move. Another USF division, Holland, now operates the former Red Star terminal in Philadelphia's Bridesburg section and employs some former Red Star drivers. They still work under a Teamsters contract, but have lost seniority and other benefits.

Jane M. Von Bergen Center dedicated by University of the Sciences The University of the Sciences in Philadelphia dedicated a $33 million science and technology center named for alumnus Robert L. McNeil former chairman and CEO of McNeil Laboratories, now part of Johnson Johnson. The three-story building is "a world-class science facility" containing laboratories, classrooms and lecture space, university president Philip P. Gerbino said.

The building was constructed on the site of the original Breyers Ice Cream factory at Woodland Avenue and South 43d Street. About one-quarter of the center will be used for research. Biological sciences, bioinformatics, mathematics, physics and computer science departments will be housed there. Funding came from a capital campaign, and included unrestricted gifts to the university from AstraZeneca P.L.C., Cephalon and Teva Pharmaceutical Industries university officials said. In recognition of the corporate gifts, the university named spaces in the center for the companies.

Robert McNeil his father, Robert Lincoln McNeil; and brother Henry McNeil, have been longtime donors to the university, which was founded in 1821 as Philadelphia College of Pharmacy, the first pharmacy college in North America. McNeil's grandfather, Robert L. McNeil also attended the school. Linda Loyd Hersha's secondary offering priced at $9.75 a share Hersha Hospitality Trust said it has priced a secondary public offering of 3.8 million shares of its common stock at $975 each. The net proceeds for Hersha are expected to be about $35 million.

The real estate investment trust is based in the Harrisburg suburb of New Cumberland, but most of its operations are run from offices in the Penn Mutual Tower in Philadelphia. Funds from the stock sale will be used to repay debt from Hersha's purchase of the remaining two-thirds interest in its joint venture with CNL Hospitality Partners, the company said. Any remaining proceeds will be used to fund development loans. Hersha Hospitality Trust owns interests in 62 hotel properties with 7,737 rooms. Its hotels are primarily in the Northeast Corridor, and have national franchise affiliations.

Its shares closed down 13 cents at $9.75 on the American Stock Exchange. Paul Schweizer Chief engineer buys Baker Sound Studios Baker Sound Studios in Philadelphia has been sold to chief engineer Rick DiDonato, the company announced. Gary Moskowitz, who has owned the company since 1984, said in a news release that he would stay on as an employee, focusing on creative aspects of projects. The studio, which provides sound for commercials, radio and movies, was founded in 1964 by Norman Baker. DiDonato joined the company in 1987, and became chief engineer in 2000.

Stacey Burling 2.50 2.25 2.00 Sept. August CASSEL from Dl scrap heap, were they suddenly filled with remorse? Could be. Or, as some imaginative bloggers have recently offered, it could be that American oil executives got together with their British and Russian and Saudi and Venezuelan counterparts and decided to drop prices to help Republicans at the polls in November. If you believe any (or all) of that, all I can say is, good luck. But if you're open to a reality-based discussion of the recent price changes, here are some relevant points: Tis the season.

In normal years whatever those are gasoline prices would be expected to fall around now. The summer driving season ended around Labor Day, as schools opened and many people finished vacations. That lowers demand for gasoline somewhat. And in parts of the country where environmental rules call for special summer fuel blends, those requirements are eased, increasing the potential supply. Bubbles pop.

Oil-market observers have been saying for months that speculation was pushing prices up. Investment banks, hedge funds, and other big traders had moved into the commodities markets after the tech-stock crash of 2001, bid ding up the price of oil futures. There's nothing inherently wrong with that, but it does mean prices can swing quickly when investor sentiment shifts as it apparently has. It's the economy. Energy prices around the world rose in the last few years primarily because demand was growing faster than supply.

Economic growth in India and China strained the world's capacity to produce and refine oil and other raw materials. But now the pace of global growth is slowing. Some see a "soft landing" for the U.S. economy next year, with output growing less than half the speed of 2004 or 2005. That's liable to affect economies in Asia and elsewhere that depend heavily on the U.S.

market. Meanwhile, oil producers have ramped up drilling and refining projects. New oil fields are being explored beneath the Gulf of Mexico, and both India and Saudi Arabia are investing in giant new gasoline refineries. Less demand more supply falling prices. That's why the U.S.

Energy Department is predicting gasoline will fall to $2.55 a gallon (average nationwide price) by January. James Hamilton, an energy expert at the University of California-San Diego, says futures markets are pointing toward even lower prices. Based on re- SOURCE: AAA Mid-Atlantic The Philadelphia Inquirer cent trading at the New York Mercantile Exchange, he predicts an average nationwide gasoline price below $2.20 per gallon in the coming months. On the other hand, Rakesh Shankar at Moody's Economy, com says he thinks the price drop will be limited. Among other things, he notes, OPEC member nations will try to manage their output to keep crude prices about $60 a barrel.

For the moment, though, we can all enjoy filling up at what seems like a bargain price. Nothing like pocketing a few unexpected dollars, right? So maybe greed isn't going away after all. By David Enrich DOW JONES NEWS SERVICE Sovereign Bancorp chief executive officer suggested yesterday that he expected to ultimately sell the Wyomiss-ing, company, one of the largest thrift banks in the United States. Under an investment agreement earlier this year, Spain's Banco Santander Central His-pano S.A. acquired a nearly 20 percent stake in Sovereign and is entitled in 2008 to buy the remainder of the bank for $40 a share.

Jay Sidhu, Sovereign's chief executive, said at an investor conference yesterday that he thought that if Santander did not step in with a bid for Sovereign, another institution probably would. "Sovereign has decided going it alone is not an option," Sidhu said. The news sent Sovereign shares climbing 65 cents, or 3.2 percent, to $21.21 in New York Stock Exchange trading. Sidhu also said Sovereign's presence in the competitive Northeast banking market had added to the bank's "scarcity" value. "We are the only entry vehicle for New England," he said.

The bank has branches in Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Rhode Island. Sidhu also said the bank's growth plans, which include courting Hispanic customers and students, would improve its attractiveness as an acquisition target. It is an "absolutely consistent strategy with anybody who's going to pay up for Sovereign," he said. Sidhu said a partnership with another institution "is the only option in the endgame in the United States." In the meantime, Sovereign may pursue more acquisitions in the Northeast, Sidhu said: "I would not rule out any acquisitions, but our focus on building shareholder value stays." Such a move is unlikely to please Sovereign shareholders, who were outraged last year when the company said it was selling a 19.8 percent stake to Santander and using the proceeds to buy a New York thrift. The Sovereign Bank unit has about 800 banking branches, mainly in the Northeast.

E-mail acasselphillynews.com or phone 215-854-5981. Read his recent work at http:go.philly.comandrewcassel. Free video-on-demand shows fice, for 99 cents each. That agreement remains the same, although Thompson said Comcast hoped to add more free network content. Episodes of the shows will be available for on-demand viewing starting on the day after they air on the network and will remain available for four weeks.

Episodes of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation will be available on demand in high-definition beginning next with the 99-cent fee to "hundreds of thousands" when they were free. The larger audience allowed the network to earn about $4.5 million in extra advertising revenue, he said. Included in the free VOD offerings will be CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, CSI: Miami, CSI: NY, Survivor, NCIS, Numb3rs, Jericho and Big Brother. The change also expands the free VOD to all CBS stations. Previously, only stations owned and operated by CBS had offered it.

Comcast also has an agreement to offer several NBC network shows, including The Of Contact staff writer Miriam Hill at 21 5-854-5520 or hillmbphillynews.com. Knock down your 1 CBS and Comcast will drop the 99-cent fee. It signaled a change in how networks regard VOD. By Miriam Hill INQUIRER STAFF WRITER The migration of popular network-TV shows to the watch-it-anytime-you-want universe of video on demand moved to a new level yesterday as CBS Corp. and Comcast Corp.

announced they would drop a 99-cent fee for viewing such CBS fare as Survivor and CSI. The change signals a greater acceptance of video-on-demand, or VOD, programs by network-TV executives, who remained leery of the technology as recently as a year ago, when they first allowed a few of their shows to appear for a fee. Dropping the fee also reflects research by the two companies that reached the not-very-surprising conclusion that viewers watch dramatically more VOD when they do not have to pay for it. "Clearly, at Comcast, we've always believed that free is the locomotive that drives the video-on-demand train," said Page Thompson, Comcast's general manager for video services. He said the fee elimination symbolized a huge change in the way networks view VOD.

Network executives initially feared VOD would mean lost advertising revenue, because people could fast-forward through commercials. Now, the networks are embracing the technology more and more. CBS spokesman Dana Mc-Clintock said that when the network offered repeats on-demand of college basketball games during the NCAA playoffs, on-demand viewings increased from about 25,000 GE to sell most of advanced-materials unit General Electric Co. said it would sell most of its advanced-materials unit for $3.8 billion, the latest move to reshape one of the world's largest companies. GE, the industrial, financial services and media conglomerate based in Fairfield, said that after the sale to private investment group Apollo Management L.P., it would retain a 10 percent stake in the unit, which has annual revenue of $2.5 billion and which makes silicone and quartz products used in industrial applications.

The company also will hold $400 million of notes. GE, which has more than 300,000 employees and annual revenue of about $150 billion, plans to use the sale proceeds, estimated at about $2 billion, to restructure its industrial business. AP Drug-coated stents and fatal blood clots to be studied An outside panel of health experts will examine whether drug-coated stents used to prop open coronary arteries can produce sometimes fatal blood clots, the Food and Drug Administration said. The announcement comes after two recent studies suggested a small but significant increase in the rate of heart attacks and deaths caused by blood clots in patients outfitted with the metal-mesh tubes. The stents slowly release drugs that help keep arteries unclogged.

The FDA said it continued to believe that the stents, which about 6 million people have received worldwide, were safe and effective. The two dominant makers of drug-coated stents are Boston Scientific Corp. and Johnson Johnson. Wyeth's Rapamune drug is the active ingredient coating Johnson Johnson's Cypher stent. AP IMF raises global growth forecast for '06 and '07 The U.S.

economy is headed for a slowdown caused by a cooling housing market, the International Monetary Fund warned yesterday, and that could be a drag on global growth. But China's booming economy shows no sign of slowing, and that prompted the IMF to raise its global growth forecast for this year and next. The IMF revised downward its forecast for U.S. economic growth to 2.9 percent for 2007 from an April estimate of 3.3 percent. This year, the U.S.

economy will expand by 3.4 percent, the fund projected in its semiannual World Economic Outlook. But as U.S. growth appears to falter, much of the rest of the world has picked up steam, it said. Besides China, Japan and Europe are expanding, and the IMF raised its forecast for global growth to 5.1 percent this year and 4.9 percent next year both up a quarter point from April. AP Rates for 30-year mortgages lowest since April Rates on 30-year mortgages fell for the seventh time in the last eight weeks, dropping to their lowest level since early April.

Mortgage giant Freddie Mac said 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages dipped to 6.43 percent this week from 6.47 percent last week. Rates for one-year adjustable-rate mortgages dipped to 5.60 percent from 5.63 percent last week. AP -yon i bi Simply call Petro for an Oil Price CeilingSM and we'll put a ceiling on how high your oil price goes. Your oil price could fall lower as market conditions permit, and you'll get great 24-hour heating service from Petro. 1-866-493-HEAT Savings may vary.

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