Also. . .
* FedEx Corp. said its own estimates of fourth-quarter earnings probably will be lower than expected, though no specific figures were given. “Economic conditions have deteriorated more than we anticipated, which is adversely impacting our volumes. If these trends continue, we think it is unlikely that we will hit our prior earnings forecast of 85 cents to 90 cents per share for the fourth quarter,” said Alan B. Graf Jr., the company’s chief financial officer. Analysts polled by First Call/Thomson Financial expect the Memphis-based shipping giant to post fourth-quarter earnings of 82 cents, below the company’s own forecast.
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* Media company Dow Jones & Co. Inc. has laid off about 200 workers, or 2% of its work force, over the last month in cost cuts driven by a slump in advertising in company publications, including its flagship Wall Street Journal, union sources told Reuters. The company would not comment on the scale of the job cuts to date but said it would give a full accounting of the retrenchment when it announces earnings April 12. The Independent Assn. of Publishers’ Employees union, which represents 2,500 of 8,850 employees at Dow Jones, also said that a number of departments are being asked to make 15% budget cuts.
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* Moody’s Investor’s Service downgraded $620 million of Aladdin Gaming’s debt after the Las Vegas casino operator said its cash on hand won’t be enough to make debt payments this year. Moody’s downgraded Aladdin Gaming’s $410-million senior secured credit facilities to “B3” from “B2,” and parent company’s Aladdin Gaming Holdings senior discount notes due 2010 to “Caa3” from “Caa2.”
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* Wells Fargo & Co., the San Francisco-based financial services company, said Chief Financial Officer Ross Kari resigned to pursue new opportunities. Kari, who Wells Fargo said is exploring options inside and outside the company, will remain as CFO until a permanent replacement is found.
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* The Federal Trade Commission is accusing Hearst Corp. of illegally acquiring a monopoly over medical drug databases used by pharmacists and hospitals. The FTC will file a complaint in federal court demanding that Hearst create a new company to act as a competitor. The FTC said the privately held media company based in New York violated antitrust rules when it bought the computer database company Medi-Span in 1998.
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* Northwest Airlines Corp. and its mechanics union, which broke off contract talks March 11, will return to the negotiating table this weekend in Washington. It will be the first meeting since President Bush appointed a Presidential Emergency Board, averting a possible strike.
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* SBC Communications Inc., the second-largest U.S. local telephone company behind Verizon Communications, said it filed with federal regulators for permission to offer consumers long-distance phone service in Missouri. The Federal Communications Commission must determine whether SBC has sufficiently opened its local networks to competitors in the Midwestern state before approving its request to offer the service.
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* Microsoft Corp. said its new Xbox video game console is on target for a fall release and its support for developers making games for the highly anticipated machine also is on track. The Financial Times reported Microsoft was late in shipping the latest version of the software development kits used by game companies to make games. Microsoft has promised to have the latest development kits in developers’ hands before the Electronic Entertainment Expo in mid-May. The Xbox marks Microsoft’s entry into console gaming, and will be the largest product launch in the company’s history.
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