Dayton Daily News from Dayton, Ohio • 31

STOCK INDEXES DOW JONES 30 TRW 500 1438.56 NYSE composite 640.69 Amex Index 865.51 rflA NASDAQ composite 3921.19 o- Dow Jones Transportation 2949.56 Dow Jones Utilities 294.37 Russell 2,000 492.61 Wllshlre 5,000 13,511.930 61.12 MARKET DETAILS IN MARKETLINE, 2E WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 12, 2000 Dayton Daily News SECTION ''mm hrf Utilities' revenue soaring, U.S. says B)Gk too EaraiiMS fell stool operation to be tweaked Mmimjmmmmmmmmmmmmmm il .1 inn u.i i f-; ft- I f- i ft voyvin i 1 vv i'" '''H, i i i :1 '-Tl 1- 1. Troubled credit card From Staff and Wire Reports CHICAGO Bank One one of Dayton's largest banks, said 1999 fourth-quarter and year 2000 earnings will fall short of Wall Street projections. The company also announced plans to restructure its struggling credit card operation. The company will report 1999 earnings of 78 cents per share for the fourth quarter and between $2.80 and $3 per share during the year 2000, compared with analyst estimates of 79 cents and $3.42 per share respectively.

Bank One has 34 branches and employs 500 in the Dayton area. Fourth-quarter results will include a $725 million pre-tax charge for the adoption of new consumer credit guidelines, a restructuring of First USA, Bank One's credit card company, deterioration of auto lease residual values and restructuring costs, the company said. These charges will knock earnings per share down to 36 cents per share for the fourth quarter and annual results to $2.94 per share. "These operating earnings estimates are consistent with expectations we shared in the market in early November," said President and acting Chief Executive Verne Istock. "All our businesses, except credit card, continue to be solidly in line with our stated growth and return goals." Delta takes controls at Comair Holdings They take in $41 2B in in five years By Dale Dempsey Dayton Daily News DAYTON Revenues for the nation's utilities have risen dramatically during five years, according to a report by the U.

S. Census Bureau. The utilities reported revenues of $412 billion in the 1997 economic census released today by the Commerce Department, an increase of more than $100 billion since the 1992 census. Electric and gas production and transmission make up most of the revenue, but the figures also include water supply systems, sewage plant and steam generation. The electric power industry generated $269 billion, while natural gas accounted for $137 billion.

While in general rates have remained flat, demand for power has grown about 14 percent since 1990, according to the U.S. Depar-ment of Energy. In 1998, electric utilities recorded $308 billion in revenue, according to Uie Fortune 500. A booming economy is partly 'responsible for the increased demand, but the power industry is selling more outside the country and diversifying into non-power businesses, according to an analyst with the Environmental Working Group in Washington, D.C. Texas, with revenues of $74 bil- Please see CENSUS5E NCR uses Web for diversity Dayton company, BET hold 'virtual' job fair today, Thursday By Imani Johnson Dayton Daily.

ews A major Dayton employer has teamed up with a leading communications company to recruit minority workers using the World Wide Web. NCR Corp. and msbet.com, a Web site for Black Entertainment Television, are hosting a "virtual" job fair between 2 p.m. and 10 p.m. today and Thursday.

Job seekers can learn more about NCR a $6.5 billion computer equipment and services company based in Dayton, as well as career opportunities in information technologyengineering, sales and marketing, and finance. Fifteen to 20 recruiters will take questions from job seekers. "We plan to track the response to the program and the number of resumes we receive," said Dave Gaylor, staffing consultant for NCR. The venture is the first of its kind for NCR and msbet.com, said Bernardine Johnson, dirtcr of strategic staffing for NCR. Johnson said she is committed to further diversifying the company's recruiting efforts.

NCR Corp. designs, develops, markets, and services information technology products and solutions worldwide. The company reported $6.5 billion in sales last year. "This is a great opportunity for the growth of NCR. Candidates can come from anywhere in the world.

We are very excited," said Sieve Ristau, manager of the Software Configuration Management team with NCR's Business Services Division. CNC MACHINIST Art Taylor inspects on a vertical machining center. Quality-control usher in a propeller hub at McCauley Propeller new TY GREENLEESDAYTON DAILY NEWS Systems in Dayton. The hubs are machined issues managers Management looks for its business units, except for the credit card operation, to raise earnings by 12 percent, the company said. Bank One plans to focus attention on boosting customer service in the credit card division as part of a yearlong strategy to return it to profitability.

The strategy also calls for the company to increase the number of new accounts by 3 million, while reducing spending and redirecting marketing efforts to attract higher-value customers. "We stumbled badly in the credit card business, we know what caused the problems and are working hard to fix them," Istock said. "It's our expectation that the cards will be back on track by the end of this year." Istock said investors will measure the company's success with its stock price. But Bank One's announcement barely made a ripple in the share price Tuesday. The stock closed Tuesday at 30, down from the previous day's trading.

Some 9.9 million shares changed hands compared with the average daily volume of 5.5 million. "There continues to be skepticism," said Joseph Duwant, at Keefe, Bruyete Woods. "I see continued weakness at First USA, more so than earlier expectations." Hal Schroeder, analyst at Schroder referred to First USA as a runaway train, adding that lack of oversight and control by management in the Chicago headquarters was never a good sign. Southeast Airlines and COMAIR, and additional regional carriers Atlantic Coast Airlines, Business Express, SkyWest and Trans States. Under the acquisition, each outstanding share of Comair Holdings common stock was converted into the right to receive $23.50 per share in cash, without interest.

Delta said it will mail instructions to Comair Holdings shareholders on how to receive payment for their shares. Trading of Delta shares on the New York Stock Exchange closed at 51 38, up 516. Comair Holdings shares ended trading at 23 716, down 116. made Airborne bicycles. The company will partner with DHL Worldwide Express to cut lead times from three weeks to seven days for a complete bike.

The bicycles can be ordered at www.airborne.net. Neighbors School nurses Today's school nurses do much more than the kindly figures of yesteryear that baby boomers remember. Read about the changes facing school nurses in Thursday's Neighbors. By Timothy R. Gaffney Dayton Daily News Delta Air Lines on Tuesday completed its acquisition of Comair Holdings owner of the Cincinnati-based regional airline COMAIR Inc.

Atlanta-based Delta also announced that Comair's president and chief operating officer, David Siebenburgen, was named president and chief executive of Delta's new regional-airline subsidiary, Delta Connection, Inc. Delta Connection includes Delta's wholly owned subsidiaries Atlantic BriefCase i ft 1 1 BUSINESS NEWS AT A GLANCE By Timothy R. Gaffney Dayton Daily eivs DAYTON In the wake of a quality-control problem at McCau ley Propeller Systems that interrupted airplane deliveries, parent company Cessna Aircraft has replaced McCauley's general manager and a quality control manager, the acting general manager said Tuesday. Keith Kerschen, a manager from Cessna's Wichita, headquarters, replaced McCauley vice president and general manager James W. Simister on Jan.

4, Kerschen said Tuesday. Kerschen, whose regular job is director of operations administration, said he expects to return to Wichita after Cessna finds a permanent replacement for Simister. Kerschen said Simister, who had been in that position since October 1997, "resigned to pursue other interests." He said ill James W. Keith Kerschen Simister propellers, Kerschen said. McCauley alerted Cessna that a batch of propellers made for the Skyhawk might be defective, and Cessna halted airplane deliveries while it identified the suspect propellers by serial number.

Cessna spokeswoman Jennifer Whitlow said none of the suspect propellers had been put on airplanes. A subsequent investigation by Cessna and Federal Aviation Administration inspectors found "foreign objects" in the metal of two other propellers from the same batch, Kerschen said. All of the defective propellers were found before they had left the plant, he said. McCauley did not stop production during the investigation, but it is still reviewing its quality-control systems, he said. Located at Dayton International Airport, the McCauley plant makes aluminum propellers for Cessna's piston-engine airplanes and other aerospace components.

Both companies are units of Textron Inc. Kerschen said Cessna's actions at McCauley are also part of a two-pronged company initiative called "I-eadership 2020" and "Quality 2020." "We want to have one standard of quality at Cessna," he said. ''Si Company: McCauley Propeller Systems Address: 35335 McCauley Drive, Vandalia 45377 Business: Propellers, firewall-forward systems, machined parts Owner: Cessna Aircraft, a Textron Inc. company Employees: 210 Key dates 1938: Founded in Dayton by Ernest G. McCauley 1961: Acquired by Cessna Aircraft Co.

1986: In a slumping market blamed on product liability lawsuits, Cessna stops making the piston-driven airplanes that use McCauley propellers. McCauley's sales fall 1995: Congress passes the General Aviation Revltalizatlon Act, which gives manufacturers some liability protection 1996: Cessna resumes production of piston-engine airplanes; McCauley's sales rebound with the industry Kenneth Bell a Flowserve VP DALLAS Kenneth P. Bell has been named vice president of manufacturing operations for Flowserve Corp. Bell, 51, joins Flowserve from UT Automotive, a former subsidiary of United Technologies where he was general manager of interior systems. A native of St.

Clair, Bell holds undergraduate degrees in biology and chemistry and a doctorate in technical administration from Michigan State University. Flowserve operates the former Duriron Co. foundry and technical center in Dayton. ASD to cut time for bike deliveries SPRINGBORO American Sports Design, the Huffy Internet bike retailer, announced Tuesday that delivery time will be reduced for its custom- Simister's departure was not a result of Cessna's having to halt airplane deliveries last month. Simister could not be reached for comment.

Dave LaPierre, also from Cessna's Wichita headquarters, has been brought in as acting quality manager, Kerschen said. Cessna halted deliveries of its new 172 Skyhawks for several days in mid December after McCauley discovered a crack in one of its KSR8.