South Florida Sun Sentinel from Fort Lauderdale, Florida • Page 59

i Trv Mr. Chairman Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan says controlling inflation remains a priority. PAGE 3 Market Watch 2 David Altaner 3 Stock listings 4 Sun-Sentinel smess 7Jri Section January 27, 2000 NWS South Florida DOW: 11,032.99 (3.10) 500: 1,404.09 NASDAQ: 4,069.91 RUSSELL 2000: 521.04 30-YR BOND: 6.57 TRAVEL So African flights arriving soon li a 377-seat Boeing 747 to Fort Lauderdale three times a week. The new stop coincides with South African Airways' decision to end service to Miami in favor of Atlanta. The flight will stop in Fort Lauderdale on its way to Atlanta.

Return service from Atlanta to Cape Town and Johannesburg will not stop in Fort Lauderdale. man Jim Reynolds said. But even so, tourism should benefit. "South African travelers tend to take long vacations in the U.S.," he said. The Greater Fort Lauderdale Convention and Visitors Bureau probably will mount a sales mission to meet with leading tour operators once flights begin, spokeswoman Francine Mason said.

Last year about 200,000 people flew between the United National carrier picks Lauderdale By TOM STIEGH0RST Business writer In a move that will add credibility to the international part of Fort Lauder-dale-Hollywood International Airport, the national carrier of South Africa said Wednesday it will begin serving sides Miami, the airline's only other U.S. gateway is New York. South African Airways announced last year that it was abandoning Miami for Atlanta, where it will have a larger range of connecting flights. "By far the strongest hub on the East Coast is Atlanta," said Mark EUinger, the airline's executive vice president for the Americas. Because even a 747 cannot make the flight from Cape Town to Atlanta nonstop, South African Airways had planned a refueling stop in the Cape AIRLINE continues on 2D "We'd love to have them flying both ways," airport spokes- Business Briefing Qualcomm stock falls 1 6 Shares of Qualcomm developer of the world's fastest-growing cellular phone standard, fell 16 percent after the company warned that its chip and cell-phone shipments may drop this quarter.

Qualcomm dropped $24.38 to $124.63 in trading of more than 68 million shares, making it the most active U.S. stock. The stock surged 27-fold last year on optimism for the company's code-division multiple access technology. Home sales growth slows Higher interest rates led to a smaller number of Florida home sales in December 1 999 only a 3 percent gain over the number of home sales in December 1 998. South Florida's housing markets either equaled or surpassed the state figures for the month.

Fort Lauderdale home sales grew 9 percent, while the Boca Raton-West Palm Beach market rose 3 percent. Miami-Dade sales grew 6 percent. Still, Florida Realtors closed the 1990s with another record year. For the year, the Florida Association of Realtors counted the sale of 1 49,532 homes, an increase of 8,000. Rexall to offer Net help Rexall Showcase International, the direct-sales division of Boca Raton-based Rexall Sundown, said it will introduce an Internet business model at its national States and South Africa, an airline spokes the airport on Monday.

South African Airways will bring woman said. Be ENTERTAINMENT "You have to evolve from this wild buccaneer to a more managed buccaneer. You have to on your initiatives." LAURIE SILVERS HOLLYWOOD.COM CO-FOUNDER Media giants say hooray for Hollywood.com JUBBff conference in February designed to boost sales for its independent distributors and help them recruit other Vf" I- --id By MARCIA HEROUX POUNDS BUSINESS WRITER When America Online announced it planned to merge with Time Warner, it was big news. But new media-traditional media alliances actually have been happening for some time. Boca Raton-based Hollywood.com is a case in point.

The Internet movie site has alliances with CBS, Gannett and Times Mirror, companies known more for television or newspapers. In January, CBS became Hollywood.com's largest shareholder. After seven years as a struggling public company, Hollywood.com the former Big Entertainment finally may have arrived. Co-founders Mitchell Rubenstein and Laurie Silvers began their entrepreneurial trek with the Sci-Fi Channel, which they sold for an undisclosedfigureinl992 before the channel even launched. Since then, the husband-and-wife team has been on an epic adventure, reinventing their business over the years from producing comics, books and products based on its intellectual properties to today's Internet business.

The company was renamed Hollywood.com late last year to reflect today's core business: a movie information Web site and related products. Recently, the company announced it would launch Broadway.com, which will feature similar information on live theater. The alliance is "in both their interests," said Christopher Ensley, analyst for Lazard Freres Co. in New York. "I think it's pretty smart." CBS has other Internet alliances, including Fort Lauuerdale-based SportsLine.com, prompted by increasing competition for TV viewers.

"The television landscape is becoming more and more fragmented," Ensley said. CBS trades advertising on its TV and radio stations for ownership in the Internet company, which benefits from association with the CBS brand name. Where is all this heading? Once CBS' merger with Viacom is completed, it could lead to a tracking stock like NBCi.com that could trade at "Internet valuation," Ensley said. Silvers, president ofHollywood.com, said the company plans to take full of its alliance with CBS and other media partners "to make HoUywood.com a household word." Rubenstein, chief executive of Hollywood.com, said the evolution of the company into the Internet has stepped up the pace. At 45, Rubenstein said he HOLLYWOOD continues on 80 3 '3 in 4 it .7 distributors.

The model, called rexall.com, will enable distributors to develop dot-com companies, said David Schofield, the Showcase International president. BankUnited profits rise Coral Gables-based BankUnited posted profits of $4 million in the first quarter of 2000, which ended Dec. 31, 1999. The savings bank reported basic and diluted earnings per share of 2 1 cents, compared with a one-penny gain in the same period a year ago. Bank officials credited a restructuring effort begun last year forthe improvement in earnings.

Airline adds 2 Miami flights National Airlines will add two daily flights today between Miami and Las Vegas. The airline started last year with funding from two Las Vegas casinos. It already serves seven cities. America West currently provides nonstop flights to Las Vegas from Fort Lauderdale and Miami. The new airline has no connection to the original National Airlines.

Commodore buys ship Commodore Holdings Limited, the Hollywood cruise company, said Wednesday it has purchased the 820-passenger cruise vessel Crown Dynasty. The papers were signed on Monday, in London to complete Commodore's purchase from Helsinki-based Neptun Maritime. The Crown Dynasty has undergone a $5 million upgrade and has started its Aruba schedule of sailing under the Crown Cruise Line brand, a newly formed upscale brand. King still wants stations Boxing promoter Don King said he still has a $4 billion bid on the table to buy 107 of Clear Channel Communications radio stations. The boxing promoter made the bid in November for all of the stations that Clear Channel is selling as part of its planned purchase of AMFM King said in an interview at the National Association of Television Program Executives convention in New Orleans.

King says he wants the stations to promote minority voices and to tap into the profitability of the U.S. radio business. DaimlerChrysler exec retiring Robert Eaton, DaimlerChrysler co-chairman and the former Chrysler chairman and CEO who helped orchestrate the merger with Daimler-Benz AG, will retire from the company March 3 1 DaimlerChrysler said Eaton, 59, gave the announcement to a meeting of senior MARRIED TO THE INTERNET: Laurie Silvers and Mitchell Rubenstein have reinvented their business, once known as Big Entertainment, to focus on a movie information Web site and related products. Staff photoEric J. Larson CORPORATE cry v- iiiiiiipr CHANGES: A Coca-Cola employee enters the headquarters building in Atlanta on Wednesday, where 2,500 positions will be eliminated.

AP photoAlan Mothner HI 'New Coke cuts 6,000 jobs AUTONATION Firm's image gets a tuneup Name out, except on Web By DAVID ALTANER BUSINESS WRITER The AutoNation USA brand name is being shelved because it was too confusing and costly to promote a local brand name, an Internet brand name and the national AutoNation brand name, company officials said Antoatioa0mrxom Wednesday. Instead, the company will be known as Auto NationDirect.com, the Web site, when it advertises nationally. When it advertises locally, it will be known by the local brand name, officials of the Fort Lauderdale-based auto retailer said. In Tampa, AutoNation's dealerships have been united under the Auto Way name, and in Denver, they have been united under the John Elway name. The company's plan under its new chief executive, Michael Jackson, is to build strong regional brands for its dealerships, and to build a national presence for its Web side, AutoNationDirect.

"It's putting all our national marketing chips on AutoNationDirect.com," said company spokesman Oscar Suris. "It makes for a simpler communication we believe consumers can understand better. Suris was clarifying remarks made by Jackson in AUTONATION continues on 2D expected in Florida. "The world in which we operate has changed dramatically, and we must change to succeed," said Coke's new president, Doug Daft, who already has moved quickly to reshape the ranks of management before he assumes the job of chairman and chief executive in April. "We must think local and act local, taking our business to where our business is.

This will allow us to sell more products," he said. The job cuts, which are expected to be completed in March, represent about 2 1 percent of the company's global work force and 40 percent of the 6,200 jobs in Atlanta. Most of the cuts are in back-office functions, rather than in producing and marketing soft drinks. Local managers will make more marketing decisions By JUSTIN BACHMAN THE ASSOCIATED PRESS ATLANTA Coca-Cola will shed more than a fifth of its work force, eliminating 6,000 jobs in a reorganization aimed at reducing the powers of its Atlanta headquarters and freeing managers around the world to make the best decisions on how to sell more soda. The job cuts announced Wednesday the largest in the 1 of the world's largest soft-drink maker will affect 2,500 positions at the company's Atlanta headquarters, 800 elsewhere in the United States and 2,700 outside the country.

No job cuts were managers Wednesday, saying that "this is the right time for me to go." "The merger is complete," Eaton said, according to a company statement. "The structure and future leadership is in place. The two companies are one, my goal has been accomplished. Eaton I COKE continues on 2D aV ayf Jfc am fclfcMif a. MiMMMAavA 1 im.