TANZI WILL STAY IN JAIL: After admitting Parmalat was drained of hundreds of millions of dollars, the dairy company's founder was ordered jailed Tuesday pending trial in what U.S. regulators called one of the "most brazen corporate financial frauds in history." In a written ruling, Judge Guido Salvini cited the "concrete risk" that Calisto Tanzi might try to tamper with evidence or flee if he were freed, and called Tanzi's claim to have had no knowledge of any falsification of Parmalat documents "improbable." The ruling came after Tanzi spent another day under questioning from prosecutors.
S&P CUTS TROPICAL'S RATINGS: Standard & Poor's Rating Services lowered credit and debt ratings Tuesday on Tropical Sportswear Int'l, a day after the struggling Tampa apparel manufacturer said it would file its annual report late because of continuing negotiations with lenders. S&P cut Tropical's corporate credit rating to CCC from B- and lowered its subordinated debt rating to CC from CCC. The company told regulators it expects to report a net loss of about $130-million for its fiscal year ended Sept. 27, compared with net income of $2.3-million for fiscal 2002.
KOREAN OUTBACKS ACTING ALONE: Outback Steakhouse distanced itself Tuesday from its South Korean franchisee, which has been telling customers there it serves "clean and safe" Australian beef, not U.S. beef; South Korea and two dozen other countries banned U.S. beef imports after last week's discovery of a "mad cow" case in Washington state. "Obviously the franchisee is attempting to capitalize (somewhat overzealously) on what he perceives as a marketing opportunity," Outback general counsel Joe Kadow wrote in an e-mail to the St. Petersburg Times about an article on the South Korean marketing campaign. Kadow said the franchisee was acting without the Tampa company's knowledge, and Outback uses Australian beef in South Korea because it's cheaper to transport there than U.S. beef, and called recent foreign bans on U.S. beef "unfounded and misguided." Kadow said Outback would "review the situation" with the franchisee.
FUN CARD RATES CLIMB: Busch Gardens Tampa Bay and SeaWorld Orlando are raising prices on their popular Fun Cards faster than single-day admissions. But the parks are making it easier to pay for the cards and adding more attractions and special events. The cost of a single-day adult admission to either park goes from $51.95 to 53.95 in 2004, while a child's one-day admission goes from $42.95 to $44.95. Fun cards, which offer unlimited admission to a single park for a year with no blackout dates, will cost $59.95 for adults, up from $56.95, and $49.95 for children, up from $42.95. The parks also will offer an installment plan for the cards, letting adults, for example, pay for a single card with 10 monthly payments of $5.99.
TOO HOT AT STARBUCKS: In a case with echoes of a famous suit against McDonald's, a Long Island woman has filed a $10-million claim against Starbucks, alleging she was badly burned by coffee that leaked from a container. On May 5, Janine Arslanian bought coffee from a Starbucks in Glen Cove, N.Y., according to papers initially filed in October in state court and since moved to federal court. The suit describes the injury as "extensive and gross second and third degree burns to her right hand and arm." Arslanian, her lawyer and a Starbucks spokesman would not comment.
Year-End Markets
Was your investment a winner in 2003? On Friday, Jan. 2, watch for the Year-End Markets report with closing prices for thousands of stocks and mutual funds. You don't have to call or write for a copy. This special report will appear inside that day's St. Petersburg Times.
