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Business Briefs

Reported by Star-Bulletin staff & wire

Friday, November 3, 2000

Hawaii spa firm wins cruise line contract

Mandara Spa, an international health-center operator that moved its headquarters to Hawaii in May, has won a contract to install spas in all of the eight cruise ships operated by Norwegian Cruise Lines.

The spa experience on the ships will begin in January, the cruise line said. Mandara, which operates resort spas in Bali, Thailand, Malaysia, the Maldives, Micronesia and Aruba, soon will open a 45,000-square-foot spa in the Kalia Tower, under construction at the Hilton Hawaiian Village.

Priceline shares fall amid turmoil

NORWALK, Conn. -- Shares of Priceline.com Inc. dropped 31 percent today after the Internet seller of travel and other services said Chief Financial Officer Heidi Miller had resigned and it was firing 87 workers.

The shares plunged $2.13 to $4.72 after dropping as low as $4.31. They have spiraled steadily after a stunning climb following their initial public sale on March 30, 1999. Sold at $16 each, the shares soared to a high of $162.38 within a month. A year ago today, they closed at $55.75.

Quaker Oats stock up on takeover talk

CHICAGO -- Quaker Oats Co. shares surged 9 percent on expectations it will receive more takeover offers, after the Wall Street Journal reported that the maker of Gatorade rejected a $14 billion bid from PepsiCo Inc.

Gatorade is the top-selling sports drink and one of the fastest-growing products in U.S. grocery stores, with sales of $1.84 billion last year. PepsiCo, Nestle SA or Coca-Cola Co. could be interested in buying Quaker for the Gatorade brand alone, analysts said.

Quaker's shares closed up $7.38 today at $89.63 after trading as high as $92 earlier. PepsiCo shares fell $1.25 to $45.81.

In other news . . .

WESTWOOD, Kan. -- Sprint Corp. said its profit will fall next year, the third long-distance company in the past two weeks to say earnings will disappoint investors because of lower prices for telephone calls. AT&T Corp. and WorldCom Inc. had earlier warnings.