Business Briefing
Wholesale inventories shrink again
Businesses trimmed inventories at the wholesale level again in January even though sales rose for a 10th consecutive month. The drop in inventories underscored that businesses remain cautious about restocking their depleted shelves.
The Commerce Department said wholesale inventories fell 0.2% in January following a 1% drop in December. Sales were up a solid 1.3%, the best showing since a 3.6% rise in November.
ORANGE JUICE
Florida freeze forces price hike
PepsiCo says it’s raising prices on its popular Tropicana orange juice because of the freeze that slammed Florida’s citrus crop.
The company will shrink its most popular bottle by about 8% -- while maintaining its price -- and will begin raising prices on another size starting in May.
The 64-ounce container of orange juice will shrink to 59 ounces. The suggested retail price remains $3.59. The price of Tropicana’s gallon container of pure premium orange juice will rise between 5% and 8%. Right now it costs $6.49.
COURTS
Lawyer settles in McKesson fraud
Jay Lapine, the former top lawyer at McKesson Corp., agreed to pay $60,000 to settle U.S. regulator claims that he participated in an accounting fraud that triggered a $9-billion plunge in the firm’s market value.
Lapine backdated documents on a fraudulent deal so that revenue could be reported early at San Francisco-based McKesson and HBO & Co., a software maker McKesson acquired in 1999, the Securities and Exchange Commission said.
McKesson shares tumbled almost 50% when the firm disclosed in April 1999 that sales were prematurely booked, leading to a restatement, the SEC said.
ACQUISITIONS
Cobra Golf is sold to Puma
German sportswear company Puma said it would acquire Cobra Golf, based in Carlsbad, Calif., from Fortune Brands Inc.
Puma said it would acquire 100% of Cobra Golf but did not provide any financial details.
INTERNET
Domain masters to revisit ‘.xxx’
A global Internet oversight agency is reopening discussions about whether to create a “.xxx” domain name as an online red-light district where porn sites could set up shop out of sight of children and teenagers.
Parents would be able to use a feature that blocked access to porn sites, though because its use would be voluntary, the “.xxx” suffix wouldn’t keep such content entirely away from minors.
The Internet Corp. for Assigned Names and Numbers, which oversees the allocation of Internet addresses globally, may revive ICM Registry’s bid yet again as ICANN meets this week in Kenya.
THEME PARKS
Disney to offer ‘passport’ tickets
Walt Disney Co. will begin selling tickets that are valid at all of its U.S. parks.
The “premiere passport” will go on sale Thursday and have no blackout dates, Chief Executive Robert Iger said at Disney’s annual shareholder meeting in San Antonio. He didn’t announce a price for the pass.
-- times wire reports
