ENTREPRENEURS COME MARCHING
FOR KAWASAKI'S 'BOOTCAMP'
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Daiei's lenders to boost aid again, reports say
KOBE, Japan >> Daiei Inc.'s lenders will boost a bailout for Japan's No. 2 retailer at the behest of government officials, newspapers said, rankling investors who are tired of waiting for a supposed push to cut off weak borrowers.UFJ Holdings Inc., Fuji Bank Ltd. and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp. increased Daiei's bailout package to ¥520 billion ($3.89 billion) from the ¥420 billion planned last month, the Nihon Keizai and Yomiuri newspapers said.
The plan swelled after Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's administration sought to "impress the market that Japan is taking drastic steps to clean up bad loans," the Nihon Keizai newspaper said, citing unnamed Financial Services Agency officials. Investors said they see such steps as the opposite.
The three banks will forgive ¥170 billion of their ¥400 billion in loans to Daiei and will convert ¥230 billion in debt to equity, the papers said. The banks also will wipe out their ¥120 billion worth of preferred shares in Daiei, the reports said.
Officials at Daiei and two of its three lenders main were not immediately available for comment on the reports, according to Bloomberg News.
Federated profit falls 23%, but chain boosts estimates
CINCINNATI >> Federated Department Stores Inc.'s fiscal fourth-quarter profit fell 23 percent as the department store company reduced prices to attract holiday shoppers. The owner of the Macy's and Bloomingdale's chains also raised its annual forecast.Profit from operations, excluding results from its Fingerhut unit, fell to $310 million, or $1.55 a share, in the period ended Feb. 2, Federated said. If restructuring costs were also excluded, earnings would have been $1.90, meeting its reduced forecast and beating the average $1.86 estimate of analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial/First call.
Federated, which also owns the Lazarus and Rich's chains, raised its earnings forecast for the current year to $3.30 to $3.55 a share from continuing operations, up from a previous estimate of $3.25 to $3.50.
The third-largest U.S. department-store chain last month lowered its quarterly forecast to $1.80 to $1.90 a share, excluding the Fingerhut unit, which it plans to sell or close, and restructuring costs including those related to the closing of its Stern's stores and the acquisition of Liberty House.
United resumes talks with ramp workers
CHICAGO >> United Airlines, which last week avoided a possibly disastrous strike by mechanics, resumed talks today to try to reach agreement with unionized ramp workers and others before asking all employees for wage concessions.United, a unit of UAL Corp. , remains in federally mediated talks with the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers District Lodge 141, representing 24,000 of the airline's workers.
"We are close, but an agreement is not imminent," IAM spokesman Joe Tiberi said yesterday.
Northwest, Continental commuters to sell shares
St. Paul, Minn. >> Northwest Airlines Corp. and Continental Airlines Inc. both said their commuter-carrier units will sell stock to the public, giving the parent companies a chance to raise cash amid losses.Northwest plans to raise as much as $400 million in an initial public offering for Pinnacle Airlines Corp., the commuter unit now called Express Airlines I. ExpressJet Holdings Inc., a Continental unit that postponed a planned IPO after the Sept. 11 attacks, filed a new proposal to raise as much as $320 million.
The two planned stock sales follow JetBlue Airways Corp.'s filing for an IPO earlier this month. JetBlue, backed by investors that include financier George Soros, is seeking to raise as much as $125 million .