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DOW SLIPS

 
Published March 9, 1994|Updated Oct. 6, 2005

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 4.50 points Tuesday to 3,851.72.

Tampa Bay/State

Chemical Bank

to expand in state

Chemical Banking Corp. will add five private banking offices in Florida and double its employment in the state during the next three years, according to Bloomberg Business News.

Chemical Bank Florida will expand from three offices to eight as early as 1997, according to J. Patterson Cooper, president. He declined to detail the cost of adding the five offices or the planned doubling of his staff to 100.

The parent company, with New York headquarters and banks in Texas and New Jersey, has $151-billion in assets with 350 branches. Chemical Bank Florida has assets of $150-million and another $700-million under management.

Cooper intends to add offices beginning later this year. He declined to identify the markets, except to say they will be upscale markets such as Palm Beach, where his bank has its headquarters. One analyst expects the company to add offices in Miami/Fort Lauderdale, Tampa/St. Petersburg, Sarasota, Naples and North Palm Beach.

DISCOUNT AUTO PARTS GROWS. Lakeland-based Discount Auto Parts Inc. said Tuesday it is poised to begin opening stores in south Georgia, Alabama and the Florida Panhandle. The company, which now has 169 stores in Florida, plans to have 70 more _ half of them outside Florida _ by the end of the upcoming fiscal year that ends in June 1995. Officials said shrinking comparable store sales growth in the third quarter was caused by comparisons against 1992 sales. Those sales were skewed by stores in South Florida, where auto parts sales soared after Hurricane Andrew.

BANK SPURNS BID. Peoples State Bank of New Port Richey has ended discussions with an unnamed regional bank holding company that wanted to buy Peoples, Edward Heveran, chairman and president of Peoples, said in a release Tuesday. Heveran said a bid was made for Peoples, but it was not accepted by the board of directors.

Nation

GOLDEN WEST ENDS BID. Golden West has ended its three-month pursuit of California Federal Bank of Los Angeles. "Despite shareholders' wishes, CalFed's management has consistently rejected our interest," Herbert Sandler, chairman of Golden West, a thrift with $28-billion in assets, said this week.

Earnings

QVC INC. The home-shopping channel operator said Tuesday its fourth quarter profit fell 85 percent, reflecting an $18.8-million charge against earnings for its failed bid to buy Paramount Communications Inc. The electronic retailer said it earned $2.8-million, or 6 cents a share, during the three months ended Jan. 31, down from $18.9-million, or 40 cents a share, a year earlier.

PARAMOUNT COMMUNICATIONS INC. The media giant on Tuesday posted a $36.6-million loss for its latest quarter. The loss amounted to 31 cents a share for the third fiscal quarter ended Jan. 31 and contrasted to a loss of $66.8-million, or 56 cents a share, a year earlier.

INTERNATIONAL CONTAINER SYSTEMS INC. The Tampa company said Tuesday net income for the year ended Dec. 31 was $272,000, or 12 cents per share, a decrease from $601,000, or 26 cents per share, for the previous year. For the quarter ended Dec. 31, 1993, the company reported a net loss of $129,000, or 6 cents per share, a decrease of $222,000 from net income of $93,000, or 4 cents per share.

Corrections

A photo caption Tuesday with a story about Martin Marietta buying Grumman showed an F/A-18 Hornet, which is built by McDonnell Douglas. Because of incorrect information from the Associated Press, the plane and its manufacturer were misidentified.

The Clearwater Bar Association will sponsor a seminar on securities law and investing on Friday at Bon Appetit Restaurant, 148 Marina Plaza in Dunedin. The seminar will run from 1:30 to 5:20 p.m. Non-lawyers can attend for $30. Call the Clearwater Bar at 461-4869 by Thursday to make reservations. Monday's Tampa Bay Law column omitted the date.

John S. Reed is Citicorp's top executive. His name was misspelled in a story Tuesday.

Best Mortgage Rate

The best 30-year fixed mortgage rate in the Tampa Bay area as reported Tuesday was 7.625 percent with 0 points offered by Mandarin Mortgage (813) 963-6263, Apollo Mortgage (813) 327-5510, and Apex Mortgage Corp. (813) 684-1111. The rate is based on a $100,000 loan with a 5 to 10 percent down payment. For additional mortgage rate information, see the complete list of rates offered by area institutions in Saturday's Home & Garden section. The information is supplied by National Financial News Services in West Chester, Pa.

DOW DOLLAR YIELD

30 industrials vs. Japanese yen 30-year U.S. bond

3851.72 105.37 6.87

-4.50 -0.13 +0.08