Reported by Star-Bulletin staff & wire
Monday, December 29, 1997
Forbes picks Compaq as company of year
NEW YORK -- Forbes magazine named Compaq Computer Corp. as the company of the year, saying the computer maker "stands out as a company that has come from nowhere to occupy a powerful position in today's key industry."Forbes in its latest issue also said that financial services was the best performing sector in 1997, followed by entertainment and insurance.
The monthly magazine said that "if you think Compaq is just an assembler and marketer of boxes, you are behind the times. Since taking over the Houston-based Compaq in 1991, Eckhard Pfeiffer has put together the preeminent Wintel (clone) computer company, with $25 billion in sales for 1997. No other company -- not Dell Computer Corp., not Hewlett-Packard, not IBM -- even comes close in the clone business."
Forbes picked Compaq out of 1,286 public companies that it examined for its 50th Annual Report on American Industry, based on profitability, growth, stock market performance and consistency.
DeBartolo, partner buy 12 mainland malls
INDIANAPOLIS -- Simon DeBartolo Group Inc. and Macerich Co. said today they have agreed to acquire 12 regional malls from ERE Yarmouth for $489 million plus $485 million in assumed debt.Simon DeBartolo, based in Indianapolis, and Macerich, based in Santa Monica, Calif., are real estate investment trusts which formed a 50-50 joint venture to purchase the malls. Simon DeBartolo had full-year revenue of $747.7 million; Macerich had revenue of $155.1 million.
ERE Yarmouth, based in New York, is the real-estate investment advisory arm of Australia's Lend Lease Corp.
The deal, expected to close in February, includes 10.7 million square feet of gross leasable area in eight mainland states.
U.S. home sales edge higher in November
WASHINGTON -- Sales of previously owned homes edged 0.2 percent lower in November from a record level the month before, a trade group said today. The declines came in the Northeast and Midwest.Existing single-family homes sold at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.38 million units last month, down from 4.39 million units in October, the National Association of Realtors said. October's sales rate had been the highest since 1968. "It was a matter of time before we saw some downward trend, however slight. ... We expect a continued slowdown in the coming months, though nothing dramatic," said the group's president, Layne Morrill.
According to economists, plentiful jobs, rising income and low mortgage rates are supporting home sales. Mortgage rates in November averaged 7.21 percent, the lowest in 21 months. The median price of an existing home -- meaning half sold for more and half for less -- was $124,400, up 6 percent from a year ago.
In other news . . .
NEW YORK -- Colgate-Palmolive Co. is betting $100 million on a new product launch aimed at dimming the smiles of Crest marketers in the tooth-and-gum battle for a place atop American toothbrushes. Colgate's new Total is the only toothpaste the U.S. Food & Drug Administration has approved as a fighter of gum disease.