The Orlando Sentinel from Orlando, Florida • Page 13

Dow Jones industrials, daily close The Orlando Sentinel 5900 5800 5700 5600 6500 5400 5300 5200, Stocks follow bonds' lead; Nasdaq sets record, B-5 THURSDAY, June 6, 1996 Market listings, B-2 Dusuie MAR. APR. MAY JUN. THE MARKETS Spree goes on: Paxson buys back 104.1 FM Dow Jones industrials 5,697.48, up 31.77 500 678.44, up 5.88 NYSE index 363.38, up 2.58 Nasdaq index 1249.14, up 5.46 AMEX index 608.27, up .83 Dow Jones bond index 101.54, down 0.25 Gold, Comex close $385.80, down $1.70 Silver, Comex close $5,155, down $0,030 Dollar, Fed index 88.17, down 0.06 Prime rale 8.25 Mortgages, 30-year fixed 7.75-8.375 1-yr. Treasury index as of May 28 5.59 Consumer Price Index, April 156.3 STOCKS OF LOCAL INTEREST in 64 1V4 Kmart 11 Albertson's 39 62 Anheuser 73 Barnett 62 -14 LockMart 84 Vfe Marriott 48 VS BellSouth 40 ColumHCA53 2V4 14 2 V4 1 -Vs i4 NorthropG 68 'A PepsiCo 33 Vfe Sprint 43Vi Vi SunTrust 37 Tribune 76'4 1i Tupperware4476 VS Wal-Mart 26 DardenR 11 Delta 82'4 Disney 60V4 Eckerd 22 First Union 62 Harris 63 Hughes 40 -14 tt Winn-Dixie 35 Full listings, B-2 N.

Uwi mi nil i- i in irrr .1 ,1 spree. Studying the changing marketplace, Press, a New Jersey newspaper company that also owns WKCF-Channel 18, decided it would be at a disadvantage competing against the large local radio groups. "We came to the conclusion revenue-wise, that down the road six or seven months, we would start getting shut out of advertising buys," said Mark Lass, Press vice president and general manager of WTKS and Channel 18. "It was a chance we didn't want to take to remain a single player." The return on the company's investment was good, he added. In a meeting with WTKS employees Wednesday, Paxson officials said they planned no major changes in the format, which is promoted as "Real Radio." Based on a recently negotiated contract between WTKS and Stern, Paxson jj will be broadcasting the infamous New York shock jock for another 1 five years.

Paxson has an agreement to take over management of the station June 17 while it awaits federal approval of the transaction. Jenny Sue Rhoades, vice president of Paxson in Orlando, said WTKS will bring a new audience to her radio corps. "We the stations are not competing head to head with each other, and that's the way we like it," she said. The Telecommunications Act of 1996, signed into law in February, ignited a firestorm of radio purchases. The law removes national ownership caps and allows com- Pease see PAXSON, B-6 The company will own six radio stations in Orlando after its recent shopping binge.

By Catherine Hinman OF THE SENTINEL STAFF Paxson Communications Corp. on Wednesday said it will acquire talk radio station 104.1 FM (WTKS) from Press Broadcasting Co. in what may be the grand finale of a recent radio buying binge in Orlando. Paxson bought back the station it sold to Press three years ago for $5.1 million at a premium: $25 million. Why? Because telecommunications reform made it possible and because WTKS was what was left.

The acquisition comes in the wake of a storm of station buying in Orlando, one that has left the city's top radio stations in the hands of three companies. With WTKS, the West Palm Beach-based Paxson soon will own six radio stations in Orlando, four FM and two AM stations. The two other big players in Central Florida are Cox Enterprises of Atlanta, which will own four FM and three AM stations, and Chancellor Broadcasting Co. of Dallas, which will own four FM stations. The popular but controversial station, which airs national radio icon Howard Stern in the mornings and veteran local radio personality Jim Philips in the afternoons, was one of only three FM stations left unattached in the market after the recent shopping GEORGE SKENETHE ORLANDO SENTINEL Daytona USA General Manager Phil Denyes tie that will greet visitors before they enter gets a good look at the giant Gatorade bot- tunnels leading into the main display area.

HOTELS THE ALREADY intermingled relationship between the Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin hotels is getting even closer. The two hotels will merge sales, marketing and reservations departments within three months, allowing people to book rooms or plan meetings at either property with one phone call. The hotels already have combined telephone systems and public relations departments and have done some joint advertising and marketing efforts. Westin Hotels and Resorts will continue to operate the Swan, and Sheraton will keep operating the Dolphin. RESTAURANTS PLANET HOLLYWOOD International the theme-restaurant company based in Orlando, said Wednesday that it has acquired the minority interests in four of its restaurants in exchange for 1.7 million shares of common stock.

The restaurants and merchandise-sales outlets are in London, New York, Washington, D.C., and Maui, Hawaii. The value of the deal was not disclosed, but at Wednesday's closing price of $25,125 a share, the acquisitions would be worth about $42.7 million. For fiscal 1995, Planet Hollywood posted a profit of $20.7 million on revenue of $270 million. HEALTH CARE THE AMBULANCE service for Orange, Osceola and Lake counties is hooking up with one of the largest emergency service providers in the country. Florida Regional Emergency Services Inc.

said Wednesday it will form a partnership with American Medical Response a Colorado company with more than 1,800 ambulances in 27 states. The partnership will allow Florida Regional to expand, said spokeswoman Layne Hendrickson. Florida Regional, which has corporate offices in Mount Dora, provides hospital-based ambulance service. RETAIL WALT DISNEY Co. Wednesday said it plans to open one of its retail Disney Stores in an entertainment complex in Harlem, a predominantly black and relatively poor neighborhood in New York City.

Disney said it plans to open the store in the new Harlem USA development, a $56 million complex. The store, scheduled to open in late 1998, is one of the first national retailers to announce plans to open in the West Oaks Mall at 73 occupancy New attraction custom-made for race fans 5 nf jit By Jill Jorden Spitz The mall will try to blend into Ocoee and has few surprises in store for its October debut. By Brad Kuhn OF THE SENTINEL STAFF GEORGE SKENETHE ORLANDO SENTINEL OF THE SENTINEL STAFF Daytona USA is scheduled to open on July 5, the weekend of the Pepsi 400 race. McDonald's and Dairy Queen in the food court. There's not much more than architecture to distinguish the shopping center from the four existing malls in the Orlando area.

But General Manager Kay Behrens isn't apologizing. West Oaks will be the only mall west of Interstate 4. And the center isn't much on formality. Behrens and her marketing team are working hard to make sure the mall blends, rather than stands out, in Ocoee, a bedroom community on Orlando's western fringe. Light and bright with high ceilings and Victorian accents, the place has an old-South town-square appeal to it.

A carousel in the food court and a community room add to the feel. The meat-and-potatoes tenant Please see MALL, B-6 This is the way it usually works in the attractions business: Let's build something fabulous and try to get people to come see it. This is how it worked at Daytona International Speedway: Check out all these people coming to see our racetrack Maybe we should build something for them to do while they're here. So they did. Daytona USA, a $20 million attraction next to one of the nation's most famous raceways, is nearing completion and is set to open July 5.

The building features a look at the history of NASCAR racing; a 14-minute, 70mm movie that lets fans see a race from inside a stock car; and several hands-on exhibits where visitors can question their favorite NASCAR drivers, serve on a pit crew, build a car, broadcast a race and more. With four months until its debut, West Oaks Mall is on schedule and filling up fast. The mall, scheduled to open Oct. 2, has signed up tenants for 47 of its 125 mall spaces. Counting leases pending, the mall is 73 percent full and managers expect to open with more than 80 percent of the 1 million-square-foot center occupied.

Shoppers won't find many surprises among the four department stores, movie theater and specialty shops, except for a The seed for the attraction was planted about five years ago, when Lesa Kennedy, granddaughter of NASCAR founder Bill France took a look at visitation to the speedway. There were races only a few days a year the current number is 28 but the speedway was crowded almost every day with race fans who just wanted to see the track and take a few snapshots. Please see DAYTONA, B-4 proposed shopping and entertainment com plex. FRAUD A FORMER Philip Morris employee pleaded guilty Wednesday to defrauding Signet Bank, NationsBank and sue other lenders in a $350 million computer leasing scam. Edward J.

Reiners, 51, of Somers, N.Y., pleaded guilty to bank fraud and money laundering. He faces a maximum of 50 years in prison and $1.5 million in fines Convention offers companies chance to cultivate seed money when he is sentenced Oct. ,41. Kemers pretended he was still working for Philip Mor Good year predicted for builders By Jack Snyder OF THE SENTINEL STAFF ris on a secret tobacco research project to persuade the banks to lend him the money Competition is tierce among Central Florida home builders, with only 1 company exceeding 10 market share. Single-family home construction Builder Closings Share By Richard Burnett to lease computers, SECURITIES OF THE SENTINEL STAFF A BILL to reduce overlapping state and federal regulation of mutual funds won Ot'V broad support from industry and regula tors Wednesday, and Senate Banking Chairman Alfonse D'Amato promised to Centex 652 10.5 Pulte 448 7.2 Cambridge 342 5.5 Amer.

Heritage 318 5.1 Maronda 301 4.9 Landstar 265 4.3 Ryland 260 4.2 Ml Homes 243 3.9 Engle 230 3.7 Lennar 224 3.6 Source: Cheules Wayne Consulting inc. bring it to a committee vote within a if month. The Securities Investment Promo tion Act of 1996, sponsored by D'Amato, R- N.Y., and other committee Republicans arid Democrats, would strengthen supervi 1L sion of investment advisers and eliminate From biochemists to Internet engineers, technology merchants peddled their goods Wednesday while potential investors shopped for hot new prospects at an Orlando high-tech trade show. The two-day Venture Capital Conference Exposition drew about 100 people, including investors, company representatives and economic development officials, organizers said. It began Tuesday at the Orlando Marriott Downtown.

The conference featured a fast-paced series of presentations in which companies unveiled their products, business plans and prospects in an effort to attract investors. Most of the companies involved said it was their first attempt at obtaining venture capital, an investment in businesses that are new and considered riskier than more established companies. Such backing is tough for new companies to secure, said Stephen W. Buchanan, a general partner in Kitty Hawk Capital, a Charlotte, N.C., firm that manages millions of dollars in venture state review of mutual fund documents NO DOOLITTLE Orlando-area home builders have reason to be somewhat optimistic, a real estate researcher said Wednesday. James Lewis, president of Charles Wayne Consulting Inc.

of Maitland, predicts that 7,500 to 7,800 single-family homes will be built and sold this year in Orange, Osceola and Seminole counties. That would be up from 7,300 single-family houses sold last year. Lewis gave his annual forecast at a meeting of the Home Builders Association of Mid-Florida's Mortgage Finance Committee. He focused his outlook on the three counties because they account for the bulk of Central Florida's housing market, al- LESLIE DOOLITTLE is taking a break. Her On Tourism column returns June BUSINESS NEWS WATCH FOR Sentinel business news JOHN RAOUXTHE ORLANDO SENTINEL Andrew Colangelo of Convergent Digital Systems Inc.

demonstrates a voice processor. "We look at about 600 companies a year, and maybe two or three of them get financed," said Buchanan, who was the keynote speaker at the conference, sponsored by the Central Florida Innovation Corp. The group is a publicprivate partnership promoting technology development. Please see VENTURE, B-4 though Lake County and northeast Polk County are growing segments. His forecast came with a warning.

Even with 7,500 to 7,800 sales, he said, "this is a very competitive market. Some builders will do better than last year. Some will do worse." Ptease see HOMES, B-6 on WFTV-Channel 9, Mondays through Fridays at 5:52 a.m. Compiled from staff and wire reports coital for investors..