The Miami Herald from Miami, Florida • 21

NYSE 2C AMEX 5C NASDAQ 6C SECTION TUESDAY NOVEMBER 221S94 Sfo HetaD ww NBC: "WeYe sticking with By HAL BOEDEKER Herald Television Critic NBC is committed to WTVJ no matter the weakness of its new signal and speculation the network might align with another station is two top NBC executives said Monday As part of a multistation deal NBC and CBS announced Monday that their South Florida stations will swap towers and places on the dial Big Switch II subject to Federal Communications Commission approval could happen as early as June or July When the switch occurs NBC shows (ER most Dolphins games) will air on Channel 6 CBS programs (Northern Exposure David Letterman) will be on Channel 4 said it doesn't make much sense for the station to leave Fox lineup is likely to make WSVN No 1 in prime i time in the November sweeps Leider said WCIX will announce new call letters in about a week General Manager Allen Shaklan said but declined to name them Several WCIX insiders however mentioned WFOR as the likely replace- ment CBS will continue to run the station through the changeover next summer1 then WCIX will go into a joint venture I run by CBS and Westinghouse Broad- casting (Group W) Shaklan said Group i PLEASE SEE SWITCH 3C In the deal CBS-owned WCIX will get more desirable tower on the Dade-Broward line NBC-owned WTVJ will wind up on South Dade tower which has trouble reaching areas of Broward WTVJ might seem the loser here but not to NBC executives behind said Neil Braun president of the NBC Television Network is something we talked through with them not something we sprung on them Herald File OPENING DAY CROWDS: Shoppers packed the aisles in August 1991 Competition from fc-gger stores forced it and waited in line to make purchases when Mart opened to seek Chapter 1 1 bankruptcy protection Hurt by fears of rate hikes Dow falls 45 Reuters News Service NEW YORK Blue-chip stocks' closed sharply lower Monday extending 1 their losses to a third straight session on fears about the impact of rising interest rates on corporate profits The Dow Jones industrial average ended down 4575 points at 376951' The blue-chip gauge has lost nearly 76 points in the past three sessions Just before the close the index fell more than 50 points activating the New York Stock Exchange's limit on program trading In the broader market declining issues beat advances 1476 to 798 on active trading of 292 million shares on I the NYSE looks like just continuing to plow them said Paul Hennessey vice president of trading at Boston Co Analysts said the market was still troubled by last week's decision by the Federal Reserve to boost short-term interest rates by a steep three-quarters of 1 a percentage point to curb inflation pressures The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development further unnerved traders Monday with a state- ment that the United States must raise interest rates substantially over the next year to contain inflation and keep the economic expansion on track The Paris-based OECD acts as a think tank for rich industrial countries Its recommendations are not binding but can play a role in shaping economic policy of its members The Dow had risen earlier in the day lifted by gains in oil stocks as the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries weighed a proposal to maintain its current output ceiling But the rally faded after the Dow failed to hold above Friday's intraday low of 3785 analysts said still a lot of confusion out there and until the dust really settles the market's going to tend to drift said Kenneth Ducey vice president of trading at BT Brokerage In addition to the prospect of cooling corporate profits higher rates are making fixed-income investments more attractive than stocks think what you're starting to see is people going into short-term Treasury bonds and notes and into said Bruce Bittles market strategist at JC Bradford be behind them and the resources will be John Rohrbeck president of NBC Television Stations said the weaker signal could cost WTVJ about 1 5 percent of its audience but predicted the momentum will offset the losses Speculation has been rampant that NBC might' try tq link up again with WSVN-Channel 7 its affiliate before the multistation switch in 1989 But even WSVN General Manager Robert Leider are the Miami Community Development Department owed $525000 and Miami Capital Development owed $267554 Howze also said Popular Bank anef Hamilton Bank are major creditors 1 1 is a good sign not like Mprt is totally said TonyCrapp executive director of Miami- Capital! a nonprofit agency this point" still optimistic that they- can reorganize perhaps downsize and pay back the Creditors will have to work out new repayment schedules through the Chapter 1 1 process a1! stand tQ lose on this but we all to this deal knowing there was a Pablo Perez-Cisneros an ass- director for the Miami Comm Development Department1 this has not gone to briefly' interrupted when the r' i The figure amounted to less than one percent of his earnings The govemWnt said taxpayers lost more than $380 million as a result of securities bank and income-tax fraud The defense has tried to persuade the court that the figure should be limited to the $3 Cmillion Paul misappropriated from the bankfor improvements to his La Gorce Island estate in Miami Beach One vear agp Pauf was convicted on 68 of 69 racketeering and bank fraud charges He l3ter pleaded guilty to 29 securities frau4 counts The government is seekirg a sentence of 17 to 22 years The dcYJfise says a term of three years and a iatmore appropriate Haitian airline plans service from Miami From Herald Staff and Wire Reports Haitian National Airlines will inaugurate its Miami-Haiti route on Sunday with a special fare of $169 round trip in economy class The fare will be offered on a first-come first-served basis for the first six flights The airline will offer four weekly flights between Miami and Haiti: on Tuesdays and Saturdays in an Airbus 310 and on Sundays and Fridays in a Boeing 727-200 The aircraft are leased from Lloyd Aero Boliviano the national airline of Bolivia Yearly profits fall for BankUnited Profits at BankUnited Financial Corp of Coral Gables fell for the year ended Sept 30 in part because of a $13 million provision for loan losses the company said Monday Rising short-term interest rates also squeezed the interest margins Profits for the year fell to $23 million or 10 cents a share compared with $4 million or $1 a share a year ago Income for the fourth quarter fell to $577000 or 4 cents a share down from 1 million or 20 cents a share a year ago net interest margins will continue to be squeezed as short-term rates rise faster than adjustments to our adjustable-rate mortgage said Chairman Alfred Cam-ner Total assets rose 27 percent during the year to $551 million Carnival computerizes customer -service cards Carnival Cruise Lines is teaming up with Miami-based Surveys International to try to improve customer satisfaction on the ships Cruise passengers will be able to fill out computerized comment cards with room for written comments The cards will be scanned through computer systems to be installed fleetwide during the next three weeks Reports on passenger comments can be generated within one hour Fort Lauderdale firm gets on-line deal Telematics International of Fort Lauderdale said it is providing hardware to help create the subscriber-access link for new on-line information service will use dial-access frame relay technology to develop the long-distance infrastructure for The Microsoft Network Microsoft launched its on-line service this month NASD disciplines five stockbrokers The National Association of Securities Dealers announced disciplinary actions against the following South Florida stockbrokers in November Gary Scher of Fort Lauderdale was fined $120000 ordered to pay $36602 in restitution to his company and expelled from the securities industry for life The NASD ruled Scher had spent $49644 of money Jack Maddock of Tamarac was fined $45000 ordered to repay S43185 and expelled from the industry for life on NASD findings that he made unsuitable investment recommendations to a customer Michael Markowski of Miami Beach was fined $50000 barred from serving as a brokerage principal and suspended from associating with an NASD-member firm for two years The US Second Circuit Court of Appeals upheld an SEC ruling against Markowski for failing to respond to repeated requests for information from his firm's books and records Scott A Kann of Delray Beach was fined $25000 ordered to pay $381 in restitution and barred from the industry for life for buying stock without paying for it Carter A Jones Jr of Fort Lauderdale was fined $20000 and barred from the industry for life after failing to respond to NASD inquiries about customer complaints Herald File THE FOUNDERS: John Kilby left Joan Donaldson and Charles Howze started Mart Howze will guide it through its attempt to reorganize neither Kilby nor Donaldson still works for the company although Ddnaldson retains an ownership stake than 70 people and expected $5 million in sales Only $35 million materialized Mart faced stiff competition from discount chain stores that had big advertising budgets and name recognition took quite a bit more capital to market a small independent store than we Howze said would take even more capital to grow the In the past 12 months sales have dropped to about $2 million he said Mart is down to 20 employees Its selling floor has been cut to 30000 square feet from 54000 Though Donaldson maintains her ownership in the store Kilby does not Neither currently works in the operation According to its bankruptcy petition the company has debts of $19 million and assets of $135499 Among Mart's largest creditors Hard times hit Mart Neighborhood store files Chapter 11 By SUSANA BARCIELA Herald Business Writer Launched three years ago with high hopes Mart Discount Department Store filed for Chapter 1 1 bankruptcy protection last week Mart plans to reorganize the business scaling back to sell specialized items we are changing our strategy for financial reasons our company is going to continue to said Charles Howze Mart president and principal shareholder still think there is viability taking successful portions and concentrating on Howze said Mart will concentrate on the sale of customized sportswear such as imprinted T-shirts and caps as well as a wholesale business not going out of the retail business entirely just going to get away from the department store Hoze said Fanfare and enthusiasm greeted Mart when it opened at 1 100 NW 54th St in August 1991 But the business faced challenges from the start Howze and partners John Kilby and Joan Donaldson all former managers of the Zayre and Ames discount stores that had operated at the same site put up about $150000 of their own funds to start Mart Lenders put up another $19 million The aim was to create jobs and keep profits in Liberty City In its first year Mart hired more Judge delays By DAVID LYONS Herald Staff Writer After government and defense lawyers got in their last shots over how much former CenTrust Chairman David Paul cost taxpayers a federal judge said Monday he won't sentence the banker until Dec I The marathon sentencing hearing of Paul 55 headed into its third day with more testimony from experts who gave varied opinions of how much CenTrust lost The number crunching was briefly interrupted when the defense introduced a rabbi and a member of CenTrust's board to show the charitable side of Paul am here to plead for said Rabbi Irving Lehrman of Temple Eman-u-El in Miami Beach has blessed him with a brilliant mind matched by a greater The rabbi is among several dozen Paul sentencing until Dec 1 Physician Corp will buy HMO in Puerto Rico Physician Corporation of America the Miami managed healthcare provider has agreed to buy Health Plus a health maintenance organization based in Puerto Rico The company expects the purchase financed with cash and borrowing will add $35 million in annual revenue PCA reported annual revenue of $542 million last year As part of the $20 million deal PCA ill buy a long-term management contract from Health largest shareholder The deal is subject to regulatory and remaining shareholder approval Physician Corp Chairman Stanley Kardatzke called the acquisition with our vision of aggressive new-market growth and product diversification We expect sig nificant growth in Puerto No effect is expected on the company's earnings in 1995 Health Plus has 33000 members in Puerto Rico a US commonwealth with 35 million people The acquisition PCA's third this year marks the company first expansion into the Caribbean 5 The number crunching was defense introduced a rabbi friends former associates and civic leaders who wrote US District Judge Donald Graham asking for leniency for Paul Also appearing in court: Thelma VA Gibson former member of the Public Health Trust and former CenTrust board member was a man who not only gave of his money but his she said of charitable activities But the government countered that Paul donated more of money than his own Prosecutors summoned FBI agent Daniel Walker Jr who testified that much of the money donated by Paul whose annual income ranged from $13 million to $5 million between 1985 and 1989 gave $149000 in those yers.