Lexington Herald-Leader from Lexington, Kentucky • 9

Lexington Herald-Leader BUSINESS A9 Saturday January 23 1993 Business in brief CompiM by Chtryl Truman 8taff wire raporli If hiring ask about firing Qilia muu BL Guide to best companies to work for says real test comes with layoffs 30 Indust 325681 379 vs yen 12516 036 COMEX spot $32860 -60 NATIONAL folks who are involved in the downsizing say it's a great place to In addition to severance policies MoRkowitz and co-author Robert Levering rated companies across the nation on pay and benefits chances for advancement openness and fairness and workplace pride The book also lists the best companies for both women and minorities based on the number in high management positions training and mentoring programs and child care However only one company on the list of 100 Patagonia the sports and equipment manufacturer is run by a woman The book updates the first version published in 1984 Of this 100 companies 55 are holdovers from the previous book By Patricia Lamlall NEW YORK If you're kxric-ing to work at a company that treats its employees well you might want to consider how it fires than two authors of a new guide to US companies said yesterday The second edition of the book The 100 Best Companies to Work For in America includes several companies that have had big work force reductions Cummins Engine Co Inland Steel Industries Inc International Business Machines Corp and Xerox Corp Possibly as a sign of the recession these companies made it onto Home construction rose for first time in six years in McDonnell Douglas will lay off 4000 workers Disappointing financial results at McDonnell Douglas Corp quickly took their toll Thursday with word Out an additional 4000 workers will be laid off from the company's Long Beach-based commercial-aircraft unit by end Bob Hood president of the Douglas Aircraft unit informed workers of the pending job cuts as McDonnell officials at headquarters in St Louis detailed the effect of an aircraft-order shortfall on their bottom line A 2-year-old airplane-sales drought sent fourth-quarter earnings excluding complex accounting moves tumbling 592 percent from the same period one year earlier "Production rates will be down We just need as many people to build fewer spokesman John Thom said Polaroid predicts lower earnings: Polaroid Corp has predicted "significantly operating earnings for 1992 blaming the nosediving economy in Europe which accounts for roughly a third of the sales sales were adversely affected by the recessionary environment across the the company said the recession sales held up reasonably well worldwide through the first three warning analysts said probably signals pressure on profits that will remain at least through the first half of this year Polaroid will announce 1992 results in the first week of February United parent company seeks new money: UAL Corp plans to seek up to $15 billion through new stock and debt issues to keep its United Airlines subsidiary going The announcement Thursday of the new financing plans came just five days before self-imposed deadline for Chicago-based United to inform 2200 workers that their jobs are being cut Ethan Allen to sen Stock: Ethan Allen Interiors Inc a furniture maker and retailer announced it has filed a registration statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission for an initial public stock offering The common stock offering would consist of 72 million shares to be sold at a price in the range of $16 to $18 a share subject to market conditions company officials said Money supply up three measures say: The two broadest measures of the money supply rose in die week ended Jan 11 the Federal Reserve Board reported Thursday The Fed said the measure known as M2 rose to a seasonally adjusted $32002 billion from a revised $34932 billion the previous week An even broader measure M3 rose to a seasonally adjusted $41519 billion from a revised $41402 billion The narrowest measure of the money supply Ml rose to a seasonally adjusted $10332 billion from 12282 billion Ml includes cash in circulation deposits in checking accounts and non-bank travelers checks M2 is Ml plus accounts like savings deposits and money-market mutual funds M3 is M2 plus less-liquid accounts such as certificates of deposit in minimum denominations of $100000 HeraU-LsaderChBrias Bertram This is the new modified electronic lock Mas-Hamilton will begin producing as early as Wednesday Its cost is $500 Government approves Lexington locks for classified-data files By John McClain Aaaoclated Press WASHINGTON Construction of homes increased in 1992 for the first time in six years the government said yesterday prompting analysts to predict continued but slower growth this yea- But another report slewed the number of newly laid off Americans filing applications for unemployment rose for the second straight week in early January a reminder that jobs are needed to maintain the economic recovery Housing starts jumped 182 percent in 1992 to 12 million units the first increase since construction rose 4 percent in 1986 the Commerce Department reported It was the largest increase since a 60 percent advance in 1983 as the economy was emerging from the previous recession and pushed starts to the highest level since they totaled 128 million in 1989 we enter 1993 this feels like a pretty firm foundation for a pretty good housing said economist David Seiders of the National Association of Home Builders assuming a gradually declining unemployment rate and payroll Despite the 17000 increase in new jobless claims to 361000 during the week ended Jan 9 the number of applications has fallen in 10 of the last 15 weeks according to the Labor Department report lTopvcompanies An li eome In The 100 Bait Companion to Work For In America AIRLINES AND TRAVEL- Avie Delta Air Lines Federal Express AUTOMOTIVE: Honda Nlaaan MEDIA AND ENTERTAINMENT Hallmark Cards Knight-Rldder Reader! Dlgeat COMPUTERS AND CHIPS: Hewlett-Packard Compaq Computer IBM Motorola DRUGS AND COSMETICS: Johnson Johnson Mary Kay Cosmetics Merck Procter Gamble OFFICE EQUIPMENT Steefcase Pitney Bowles Xerox RETAIL Dayton Hudson Land's End Lowe's Patagonia JCPen-ney Wal-Mart Housing starts SmooxyiifMetf mutlnm mmomctunSe 14 A A 8 1M j' Dec 91 Nov 92 112 Tsoi Soure Dipt ot Comimv mr And the four-wed: moving average of claims which many analyst prefer because it smooths out tiie volatile weekly numbers was 331750 during the latest reporting period near the 3V4-year low it reached during the period ended a week earlier Mark Zandi an economist with Regional Financial Associates in West Chester IX said the housing report augurs well for the housing industry and the economy Analysis change rules that require companies to forthrightly disclose all information deemed Such vague wording leaves lots of room for maneuver Los Angeles securities lawyer Henry Lesser of Irell Manella maintains that regulators are correct in leaving the matter up to individual judgment must be leery about micromanaging disclosure he said "There are any number of situations that cannot be accurately assessed such as executive Too much emphasis on what-might-happen scenarios would risk market volatility Lesser said Yet incomplete disclosure might fuel rumor mongering by analysts and journalists hungry for information And shareholder activists contend that investors need stronger boards of directors to protect then-interests in such matters Still companies often tend to minimize tiie seriousness of a key executive's illness in part because die results of treatment are hard to predict That was the case five years ago when MG Communications initially kept secret for two weeks the fact that chief executive William McGowan had suffered a heart attack then claimed the event was not because it was only a disability" MCI stock barely budged Subsequently however McGowan grew gravely ill and required a heart transplant the list in part by offering generous severance packages co-author Mil-ton Moskowitz said a kit more anxiety out there about job Moskowitz said The real test of a company becomes how they treat employees being laid off of these companies have very attractive retirement he said Alan Click stein a partner at the Kwasha Upton benefits consulting firm said the book challenges the notion that of the things that makes a good place to work is if you do your job well have your job tomorrow Certainly the vember when a rival company Sargent Greenkaf Inc of Nicholas ville demonstrated to government officials that it could be picked The revised version is now the only one approved for use on government files containing classified documents There is no contract to sell the locks But because it is the only one with government approval the deal is thought to be worth as much as $500 million to Mas-Hamilton a company formed last var It was unclear yesterday how much replacing the locks would cost Mas-Hamilton which guaranteed its original product Although as many as 10000 are already in use in government offices federal officials do not know how many agencies will ask to have their old locks replaced wlih the newer -sion portunity for rock roll and a tremendous opportunity for country music because you have single stations in each of those formats with no competition "There is probably also room for a hit music station because there one of those now also plenty of room for a soft adult contemporary which has never been done on a larger station The new station will be moved to Lexington and operated from the same facility as WLAP and WMXL A signal tower is bang built on Russell Cave Road $825 a share In October Kentucky Central increased its quarterly dividend to 11 cents a share from 10 cents The higher rate was payable Oct 13 to shareholders of record Oct 5i The annual dividend rate would have been 44 cents a share In December Kentucky Central announced that it was negotiating with two limited partnerships Whitman Heffeman and Rhein Workout Funds II and UA for the new capital A final agreement was expected by Dec 31 but negotiations are continuing the company said yesterday KENTUCKY Gas prices hit nine-month low: The average price of gasoline in the Lexington area dropped to 972 cents a gallon the lowest price in nine months according to this AAA Blue GrajssKentucky survey The price for regular self-serve unleaded gasoline is 24 cents a gallon less than it was during tiie last survey Dec 16 The current figure is the lowest recorded since April 1992 when the average price was 96 cents a gallon Statewide the average is now $1 a gallon and nationally it is $110 The survey included 44 stations which had a price range of 97 cents to $105 a gallon Firms might be too slow revealing sickness Herald-Leader stall report A modified version of a lode manufactured by the Mas-Hamilton Group Inc of Lexington was approved for use by federal agencies yesterday the General Sendees Administration in Washington said The decision clears the way for Mas-U' milton to resume manufac-brii- locks Production was -i Dec 8 after government 4 deruj'tstrated that the locks weic perk-t "Today a good JD Hamilton vice chairman and vice president of marketing for Mas-Hamilton said yesterday just tickled to death to be beck on and just kind of dancing in the Hamilton said production would resume as early as Wednesday The $500 electronic lock became the subject of controversy in No WLFX has been operating as WHRS-1001 FM a simulcast of the AM station The sale of WHRS to Trumper was approved by tiie Federal Communications Commission on Dec 14 Dan Dorsett vice president and general manager of WMXL said the sale is expected to dose Feb 15 Dorsett said the format and call letters probably will be different He said the format will not be announced until Feb 15 "There are lots of he said locked at the market and a tremendous op Sale to move WHRS radio station to Lexington By Tad Schultz Herald-Leader staff writer Alter nearly two months in limbo a Central Kentucky radio station is about to find a permanent home Trumper Communications of Chicago expects to dose a $12 million deal Feh 15 for the rights to WHRS-1001 FM WHRS based in Winchester was formerly WLFX-1001 FM better known as X-100 or Fox ioa which plans to move WHRS to Lexington already owns WLAP-630 AM and WMXL942 Kentucky-American requests 927 percent rate increase By Unda Grant Lot Angels Time NEW YORK Are public companies doing all they should to inform shareholders when grave illnesses strike key executives? Tenneco's disclosure this week that chief executive officer Michael Walsh 50 suffers from brain cancer which followed by one day the death from the same disease of Reginald Lewis TLC Beatrice International chief executive has renewed questions whether rights to information about CEO health are adequately protected Securities lawyers said Thursday that in their judgment Houston-based response appeared to be a model of swift disclosure Walsh disclosed his condition to the board of directors and then to Wall Street analysts and reporters during a hastily convened telephone conference call Wednesday all less than 24 hours after he received results from a brain-tumor biopsy His open-door policy was a sharp contrast to the secrecy that shielded Lewis whose condition was not made public until he lapsed into a anna the day before he died Because TLC Beatrice is privately held the company was not obligated to inform the public though some of its bonds are publicly traded No regulations specifically address the sensitive topic of CEO illness and many corporate chieftains consider their health a private matter The issue is covered only by Securities and Exchange Commission and New York Stock Ex- Kentucky Central Life declines to pay fourth-quarter dividend FM It will be the first company to own three radio stations in the Lexington market Trumper is buying WHRS from Hancock Communications of Nashville Bud Walters president of Hancock Communications bought WLFX and WHRS-1380 AM from Premier Broadcasting Ca of New York for $600000 in November Walters got tiie stations for such as low price because Premier owed him money Walters sold the AM station to Tim Smith of Winchester in December For the last two months The water company has raised its rates each of the last five years water rates increased by 377 percent in May to pay for $1 million in improvements That increase was the result of a compromise among Kentucky-American Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government and the state attorney office Both Lexington and the attorney general had objected to the company's initial request for a 102 percent rate increase The water company has raised its rates each of the last five years Herald-leader ataff report Kentucky Central Life Insurance Ca announced yesterday that it will not declare a common stock dividend for tiie fourth quarter of 1992 The Lexington company said in a statement that tiie dividend was being omitted because of its negotiations with New York investors for up to $100 million in new capital to help strive financial problems caused by losses on real estate loans The announcement halted over-thexxinter trading in Kentucky Central's stock at 328 pm yesterday The last trade was for HaraM-Lewtor ataff report Kentucky-American Water Ca yesterday asked the Public Service Commission for a 927 percent rate increase The increase would raise the average residential customer trill from $1577 for a month of service to $1721 For the average customer it would mean an increase of about 5 cents a day "The increase is needed to pay for capital improvements to the water system which are necessary to continue providing adequate high-quality water service to our rapidly growing said Robert A Edens vice president and manager of Kentucky-American I i.