LOCKHEED SELLS UNIT: Lockheed Martin Corp. plans to sell its aerospace electronics unit to a British defense firm in a $1.67-billion deal. The sale is part of a Lockheed restructuring announced in September. The North American unit of BAE Systems will acquire all the assets of Lockheed's Aerospace Electronics Systems, which employs about 5,300 workers in five states. Lockheed will apply $1.3-billion toward debt reduction and take a one-time charge of $1-billion, or $2.50 a share, for goodwill and intangibles in the third quarter. HEALTHCARE SETTLEMENT: Gambro Healthcare Inc. will pay $53-million to settle allegations of overcharging in Medicare, Medicaid and the Defense Department's TRICARE health care program, the Justice Department said. The settlement stems from accusations against a pair of Gambro subsidiaries at labs in Fort Lauderdale and DeLand. DARDEN MAKES $250-MILLION SHELF FILING: Darden Restaurants Inc. of Orlando filed to raise as much as $250-million from sales of debt securities. The company said the funds could be for general uses. Darden also may offer $250-million of unsold debt securities registered under a previous filing, giving it up to $500-million of fundraising capacity on the shelf. Darden operates more than 1,000 Red Lobster and Olive Garden restaurants. Its shares, which have dropped 19 percent over the past year, fell 31 cents to $17.31. MEDIA GENERAL TO SELL PAPERS: Media General Inc. said it will sell a group of Virginia and North Carolina newspapers to Boone Newspapers Inc. of Tuscaloosa, Ala. The sale involves the daily Suffolk, Va., News-Herald, the tri-weekly Roanoke-Chowan News-Herald in Ahoskie, N.C., and several smaller publications. The terms of the deal were not disclosed. Media General also announced plans to sell its Garden State Paper Co., a recycled newsprint manufacturer, for $72-million to an affiliate of Enron North America Corp. Media General is the parent company of the Tampa Tribune and WFLA-Ch. 8. IMAX HIRES ADVISER: Imax Corp. has hired Goldman, Sachs & Co. and Wasserstein, Perella & Co. to help evaluate options that include a sale or merger of the big-screen theater company. The company said it is seeking ways to boost its stock price. Wasserstein, Perella is one of Imax's largest shareholders. Imax shares rose $4.06, or 18 percent, to $26.50. Imax shares had fallen 18 percent this year. FLOORING AMERICA NAMES CEO: Michael Worrall, the restructuring specialist who headed up the liquidation of Tampa-based JumboSports Inc., has been hired as president and chief executive of Flooring America Inc., the Kennesaw, Ga.-based carpet and tile retailing chain. Just before the filing, Flooring America closed four of its 15 stores in the Tampa Bay area. TREASURY AUCTION: The U.S. Treasury sold $5.002-billion of 9{-year inflation-indexed notes at a yield of 4.03 percent. At the previous auction, last Jan. 12, the notes drew a high yield of 4.338 percent. Tenders totaled $11.74-billion. Earnings SunTrust Banks Inc. Atlanta-based SunTrust said net income rose 8 percent after the effect of special charges. Its average loans rose 13 percent to $69.8-billion during the quarter ended June 30. 2ndQtr Year Ago Net Income $317.5-mil $293.7-mil Per Share $1.05 91 cents General Electric Co. Led by strong growth in its power systems, aircraft engines and NBC units, Fairfield, Conn.-based GE beat Wall Street expectations by 1 cent per share. GE's results are for the quarter ended June 30. 2ndQtr Year Ago Revenue $32.9-bil $27.4-bil Net Income $3.38-bil $2.82-bil Per Share 34 cents 28 cents PepsiCo Inc. Per-share income for the three months ended June 10 topped analysts' expectations by 2 cents. PepsiCo, based in Purchase, N.Y., credited strength in its Frito-Lay snack food, Pepsi-Cola soft drink and Tropicana juice businesses for its performance. Bradenton-based Tropicana posted a 17 percent rise in operating profit on a 4 percent increase in revenue. 2ndQtr Year Ago Revenue $4.9-bil $4.5-bil Net Income $563-mil $467-mil Per Share 38 cents 31 cents Paradyne Networks Inc. The Largo maker of broadband telecommunications products said record revenues for the quarter ended June 30 increased 43 percent from the same period in 1999. But net income fell short of analysts' estimates. The First Call consensus expected the company to earn 9 cents a share in the quarter. Ahead of the late afternoon earnings report, Paradyne shares closed up $3.44 to $43.13. 2ndQtr Year Ago Revenue $75.6-mil $52.8-mil Net Income $1.3-mil -$610,000 Per Share 4 cents -2 cents First Commercial Bank Net income for the Tampa bank rose 46 percent during the quarter ended June 30. 2ndQtr Year Ago Net Income $224,000 153,000 Per Share 50 cents 34 cents