The Wichita Eagle from Wichita, Kansas • 8

THE WICHITA EAGLE-BEACON Friday July 15 1988 Morning Line Dow Jones 211362 925 Gold-NY dose $43835 -190 Wheat-Wichita $344 -10 1(M WKtMa Eagte and Btacon PuNwhng Co Michigan firm buys KWCH sister stations The sale includes KAYS in Hays KLOE in Goodland and KTVC in Dodge City By Bob Curtright and Ellon Dyer Staff Writers KWCH Ch 12 and its three sister stations were sold Thursday to a Michigan broadcast executive for $45 million In a move that was called unexpected and unsolicited by the sellers The four stations which make up the Kansas Broadcasting System were sold by Ross Beach and Robert Schmidt of Hays to Robert Smith of Birmingham Mich sole shareholder of Smith Broadcasting Group Smith already owns five television stations in California Pennsylvania and New York Along with the WlchitaHutchinson-based Ch 12 Smith will be the new owner of KAYS in Hays KLOE in Goodland and KTVC In Dodge City All are CBS affiliates The sale is contingent upon Federal The Kansas Broadcasting System was touted as "Kansas owned and Kansas the only locally owned and operated commercial televlkon stations In the state Channel is had reached rock bottom in the local news ratings right before Beach and Schmidt took over In the past four years the station brought in new management new reporters and anchors and began a turnaround that paid off about two years ago when it successfully challenged longtime ratings leader KAKE Ch 10 While KWCH does not win in every local news race in every time period in the most recent ratings In May it captured 12 of 16 possible firsts in both Nielsen and Arbitral ratings: noon 5 pm 6 pm and 10 pm weekday newscasts in metro and state ratings view those stations as being some of the best broadcasting outlets in the country in terms of the quality of news and public service they perform within the Smith said in a telephone interview from his office in Birmingham Smith said he anticipated making no personnel or management changes at the stations Nor does he plan to move to Wichita "This station has been high on my list for a long Smith said adding that he became interested in the Wlchita-Hutchinson station when it was sold to Beach and Schmidt in 1982 and had been impressed with all the stations' progress since then He said he first offered to buy the station a year ago Bob Wine controller at KWCH said "It was not on the market it was not Station department heads found about the proposed sale during a staff meeting Thursday morning when the news release was read to them Wine said Schmidt and Beach said that because of the FCCs crossover regulations they would have had to eventually divest either their television stations or their cable systems in Hays and Goodland Smith began his broadcasting career in 1982 in New Bern NC where he was a minority owner in a television station He formed Smith Broadcasting Group in 1985 and bought television stations in Harrisburg Pa and Elmira NY He later added stations in Altoona Pa Johnston Pa and Santa Barbara Calif KWCH general manager Ron Bergamo said Smith planned to be in Wichita Wednesday to meet with KBS staffers about future plans adding that the staff was "excited Everything we hear is Communications Commission approval was simply a case of Mr Smith stepping forward and making us a timely and generous offer we couldn't Beach and Schmidt said in a joint announcement released Thursday This is the second major television sale this year in Kansas In March the five Kansas State Network stations including the Wichita flagship KSNW Ch 3 were sold to two different parties for about $50 million Beach and Schmidt already owned KAYS and KLOE when they purchased Channel 12 in 1982 for about $12 million Hot weather boosts Ilayride caravan Some of the 53 trucks carrying 48000 bales of hay leave the Charlotte Motor Speedway in Charlotte NC Thursday morning for Columbus Ohio The caravan is carrying hay donated by farmers from North Carolina South Carolina and Virginia as thanks for hay Ohio farmers donated during the 1986 drought Beech assists earnings growth retail sales in June The hot dry weather that has caused grief for many US formers proved to be a boon for the nation's retailers in June as consumers rushed to purchase items ranging from summer clothes to air conditioners The Commerce Department said that retail sales rose a moderate 05 percent to a seasonally adjusted $1328 billion in June Sales rose 03 in May an upward revision from the estimate of 01 percent Much of the strength in June came at department stores and other general merchandise outlets where sales jumped 187 percent to $152 billion the strongest gain since last August when the increase was 194 percent In a report last week major retailers had reported strong sales of air conditioners summer clothes barbecue equipment and sporting goods think what seeing is the upside of the current weather said James Newton head of Economic Perspectives a consulting company Business briefings Oregon rejects Batus bid Fanners Group said that the Oregon Department of Insurance and Finance had denied the application of fotu Inc a subsidiary of London-based tobacco company BJLT Industries to assume control of Farmers A Kansas Insurance Department hearing on the takeover continues in Topeka A Batus executive told the Kansas hearing Thursday that Batus had sufficient funds to finance its proposed $45 billion buyout Farmers has extensive operations in Kansas Japan trade surplus cut Japan said its trade figures with the United States improved dramatically in the past six months and predicted that the trend would continue for the rest of the year The trade surplus with the United States was down 149 percent during the January-June period compared with the same period last year according to the Foreign Ministry MCI to repurchase stock MCI Communications Corp signaled confidence in its future by announcing plans to repurchase for $677 million the 162 percent stake held by its largest shareholder International Business Machines Corp But MCI defrayed the cost and kept a link to IBM by saying it would sell IBM a new issue of $400 million in preferred shares Singer selling divisions The Singer Co said it would sell its Electronic Systems and HRB divisions for a total of $455 million as part of Florida investor Paul Bilzerian's plan to finance his buyout of Singer Plessey North America Corp will acquire Electronic Systems Division for $310 million and the Hadson Corp will acquire the HRB Division for $145 million Singer said The bottom line Kansas State Bank Trust reported first-half earnings of $952000 up from $531000 for the same period last year JV Lentell chairman said the city's fourth-largest profits were ahead of its 1988 forecast assets rose to $22228 million up from $218 million as of June 30 1987 Rubbermaid: The parent company of Winfield-based Gott Corp posted record second-quarter sales and earnings Sales were $283 million up 16 percent over the $245 million recorded in 1987 Earnings were $243 million or 33 cents a share compared with last $211 million or 29 cents a share Macmillan: A judge in Delaware blocked publishing company Macmillan from going ahead with a massive restructuring plan designed to thwart an unwanted bid from the Robert Bass Group of Texas Jack Jacobs of the Delaware Chancery Court granted Bass' request for a preliminary injunction Compiled by the BusinessFarm staff By BiU Bartel Staff Writer With Beech Aircraft Corp reporting a healthy Increase In plane sales Raytheon parent company announced Thursday a 104 percent increase in earnings In the second quarter of 1988 compared with the same period last year The Lexington Mass-based company reported that earnings rose to $1223 million or $184 a share on sales of $1041 billion In the second quarter last year the company earned $1108 million or $150 a share on sales of $1917 billion For the first six months of 1988 earnings were $2356 million or $352 a share on sales of $199 billion In the same period last year earnings were $2126 million or $187 a share on sales of $1668 billion Beech has continued its climb from last year shipping 180 civilian planes worth $2069 million in the first half of 1981 Beech enjoyed a 27 percent increase in shipments and a 41 percent increase in billings over the comparable time last year Beech also delivered 15 off-theehelf aircraft worth $313 million to the U1 military we reported in the first quarter Beech and Energy Services have turned said Raytheon Chair man Thomas Phillips a result all five business segments are again profitable in the second Company executives attributed the increased earnings to higher sales improved operating performance and lower taxes Electronics led by defense electronics systems continued as the largest contributor to sales and profits Valley Center office is sold Market posts slight increase as traders await trade report By Frank Garofalo Staff Writer Wichita Federal Savings A Loan Association will buy the Valley Center branch office of First Federal Savings Bank of Newton the thrifts announced Thursday Wichita Federal will acquire the $15 million in customer deposits and $900000 in consumer and personal loans and purchase the land and building and all of the furniture fixtures and equipment Terms of the transaction expected to be closed in 60 days were not disclosed Larry Tholen Wichita Federal president said First branch employees would be the opportunity to become employees of Wichita Federal Savings at that Brad Edwards the manager will be retained In that position Customers of the Valley Center branch will be notified of the change and the effective date Checking account customers will be asked to go to the office to obtain re-' placement checks at no charge The Valley Center branch will become Wichita third branch office Wichita main office is at 340 Broadway David Hanna Jr president of First Federal said in a news release that Valley Center office did not fit into its long-range plans to concentrate its business closer to the Newton First Federal has branches In Marion HawVwd Hillsboro and Hesston Associated Press NEW YORK Stock prices struggled to a small gain Thursday as the market absorbed the news of increases in the prime lending rate The Dow Jones industrial average rose 925 to 211161 Many large banks across the country raised their prime lending rates Thursday from 9 percent to 93 percent Analysts said however that those moves were seen largely as a response to recent increases in open-market money rates and did not necessarily have much predictive value for the future of rates in general Brokers said traders were reluctant to commit themselves extensively either way in advance of report from the Commerce Department on the trade balance for May Advancing issues outnumbered declines by about 6-to-5 in nationwide trading of New York Stock Exchange-listed stocks Volume was 17141 million shares down from 21193 million in the previous session Prime lending rate increases to 9 IPrimeratail 981-1988 The prime rate is the interest banks champ their most favored customers for moneys Chase Manhattan Bank and Citibank hiked their prime rates to 93 Thursday The rate had been 90 since May 11 25 Names Changes V'- 20 15 Knight-Ridder News Service WASHINGTON The nation's major banks raised their prime lending rate Thursday by half a percentage point to 95 percent its highest level since March 1986 Chase Manhattan Bank was the first to boost its prime Thursday but most other leading banks across the country quickly matched it In Wichita Bank IV-Wlchita said it would raise its prime rate half a percentage point to 10 percent effective today The city's other major banks First National Union National and Kansas State remained at 95 percent but were expected to follow the increase within the next few days The increase reflected a recent trend of rising short-term interest rates which has pushed up the cost of fends that banks borrow to make loans bank spokesmen said Rather than heralding a new round of higher costs for borrowing Thursday's increase merely brings the prime rate In line with existing market levels economists said The recent trend already has pushed up interest rates for most consumer loans and mortgages Short-term interest rates have been rising because the Federal Reserve Board to nudging them up to slow the pace of economic growth and restrain inflation The banks boosted their prime rate one day after Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan told Congress that the Fed intended to concentrate more on restraining the economy than eHmuinUng Bank borrowing costs have risen more than a fell percentage point since late March Then the federal funds rate the fee banks charge each other for overnight loans stood at 65 percent and jumbo 99-day certificates of deposit a major fending source for banks paid depositors 667 percent said John Godfrey chief economist for Barnett Banks Florida's largest the end of June banks were paying 76 percent for money raised in large Godfrey said of (Thursday) morning the rate had moved up to 8 percent So the basic cost of fends for the banking system has gone Long-term rates such as 30-year mortgages have held stable through this period and should continue to said Norman Robertson chief economist for Mellon Bank of Pittsburgh 10 JeAna Davis Cherry Creek branch manager of Fidelity Savings Association has been promoted to assistant secretary for the firm John Patrick has been named manager of the the newly formed loan review department for the 13 Michaelisowned banks in Kansas Patrick had been executive vice president of a bank in Salida Colo Kenneth Friedel formerly loan review officer at Hutchinson National Bank Hutchinson also joined the department Mary Ann Lauver Beattie and Joseph Miranda have joined Wichita Clinic Mary Ann Beattie pediatrician is a graduate of the University of Kansas School of Medicine Kansas City Joseph Miranda radiologist is a graduate of the University of Texas Southwestern jpedical School Dallas SOURCE: Knighl-Riddar Finwiaal New KnigN-Riddw GnpNca NmwoN.