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Show GheSalt LakeTribune BUSINES UTAH BRIEFS, B-2 CONSUMER CORNER, B-2 Indicators a Do industrials ‘coe NYSE | B FRIBAY @ DILBERT, B-5 in JANUARY22, 1999 ue a Delays Spaceplane Setback means Utah landings postponed a year BY LEE SIEGEL ‘THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE “Tah‘Ss Top Performer TheBloomberg Utah Index | measures the stock performance | of the state's major publicly- held companies Stock prices fell aah asinvestors raced to take profits in shares and concerns mounted about Brazil's economy. Aeeeeee ae etee Tomega Reports Big Drop In Its 4th-Quarter Profits Iomega Corp. on Thursday announced a 47 percent drop in fourthquarter profits and said two senior executives will resign. ‘The No. 1 maker of data-storage products reported net incomefell to $19 million, or 7 cents a share, com- pared with profits of $36.1 million, or 13 cents a share, for the same period a yearago. As Iomega reported a drop in prof- its, President and Chief Executive Officer Jodie K. Glore announcediwo division presidents of Iomega, based in Roy, will resign. A manufacturing problem at Alliant Techsystems Inc. in Utah apparently caused defects in a fuel tank for the X-33 spaceplane — the $1.2 billion prototype for VentureStar vehicles that might re- place space shuitles. The bubbles and cracks in part of the fuel tank’s inner lining will delay completion of the X-33 as much as seven months, but such problems are common for experimental programs, officials from Lockheed Martin Corp. and the Na- tional Aeronautics and Space Adminis- it, so you prevent that problem.” An investigation team of Lockheed Martin and Alliant officials will issue conclusions within a month, hesaid, noting the defects apparently originated at Alliant’s Clearfield plant. “We thinkit’s a manufacturing problem probably, although I hate to second-guess the findings of the team.” Alliant spokesman Dave Nicponski said: ‘The program is called X-33, which is for a reason. The X stands for experimental. These things happen. It will be solved, and we will move on.” He declined further comment. Rising said it wasn’t yet known if Al- tration (NASA)said Thursday. liant would be required to absorb the $5 A previous delay in engine manufacture by Rocketdyne already pushed the million cost of replacing the defective iank lining. Lockheed Martin spokesman Ron Lindeke said his company’s reserve fund might paythe bill as a cost of developing an experimentalspacecraft. Alliant is building two operational tanks plusa third for testing under a $59 X-33’s first California launch and Utah landing from this summer to December. ‘The tank trouble meansthefirstfive test flights — which ail end at Dugway Proving Ground — will not begin until spring or summer 2000, said Jerry Rising, Lockheed Martin's X-33/VentureStar vice president. During a telephone news conference, Rising was askedif the defect in the Alliant-built tank for liquid hydrogen fuel could have caused the X-33 to explode during flight and scatter debris over wesiern Utah —a disastercalled unlike- ly in NASA’s environmental impact statement. Rising replied: ““You can always speculate on that, but the fact is we qualify [test and inspect] a system before wefly million subcontract from Lockheed Mar- tin, NASA's primecontractor on the X33, Lindeke said. The value grew from $39 million two years ago when engineers realized the tanks hadto be stron- ger thanfirst planned, he added. The X-32 is a pilotless, half-scale prototype for two reusable VentureStar spaceplanes Lockheed Martin and its partners may spend $5 billion to build. NASA,which is paying 76percentofthe X-33's cost, would be a paying customer for the privately owned VentureStars, which aretouted as a way to sharply re- Lockheed Martin Computer image shows X-33 components:blue(liquid hydrogen), yellow (liquid oxygen) and orange structure housing the robot computer pilot. duce the cost of space launches. flights would landin Utah,thensaid possibly 10. Austin said Thursdaythere will ont, and nothing we have doneon this program has been done before,” said be between five and 13 Utah landings, The X-33 “is a new vehicle inside and NASA's Gary Payton, who oversees space transportation technology. “It is the most demanding space launch technology program the government has undertaken in decades. This vehicle represents the most advanced technology in every subsystem.” Seven to 15 suborbitaltest flights are plannedfor the X-33. It will be launched from Edwards Air Force Base,Calif., for at least five flights to Dugway and at least twoflights to Malmstrom Air Force Base, Mont., said Gene Austin, NASA’s X-33 program manager. NASAofficials first said two to six with the real numberdetermined as the flight program proceeds. The wedge-shaped X-33 is 69 feet long and 77 feet wide. It will be fueled by highly explosive liquid oxygen andliq- uid hydrogen. Lockheed Martin built the aluminum tank for oxygen. Alliant built the large pieces that will be assembled into the X-33’s twin hydrogen-fuel tanks, each 27 feet long and 18 feet wide. Each hydrogen tank includes four cy- lindrical “lobes” that are connected to- gether, then capped with “domes” at each end. Each tank has Alliant-madeinSee SPACEPLANE,Page B-2 Ted Briscoe, head of personal stor- age, and Fred Forsyth, head of professional products, will leave the company as it reorganizes iis management structure. Opportunities within the new com- IRS, State Join Forces to Create ‘One-Stop Tax Shop’ pany organization were not consistent Taxpayerswill be able to get answers with their personal career goal Glore. Briscoe and Forsyth will remain in their positions until the com- from both agencies undera single roof pany makesthe transition to the new management structure. Analysts had expected iomega to post an even steeper drop. BY LESLEY MITCHELL ‘THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE Manyof the taxpayers who visit the Internal Revenue Service's Salt Lake City office have questions about their state tax return as well. That's why the IRS has teamed with the Utah State Tax Commission to create the One-Stop Tax Shop, First Security Income Up First Security Corp. of Salt Lake City reported 1998 net income of which opens Saturday. The center, at the Tax Commis- $254.9 million, up 18.4 percent from the previous year. sion's offices at 210 N. 1950 West in Salt Lake City, for the first time puts staff membersof both agencies under The figure does not take into account one-time chargesrelating to mergers. oneroof. IRS CommissionerCharles 0. Rossotti is scheduled to Sales for the largest Utah-based bank were $1.2 billion in 1998, up be in Salt Lake City today to celebrate the grand opening of the center, which is designedto serve as a model 19.8 percent from 1997. The Fuoee) for otherstates. “This has been talked about in several states, but ny’s fiseal year ended Dec. 3 The companyis growing Sroidty through mergers and acquisitions. In December, First Security acquired Marine National Bank of Ir- Utahis the first in the country to do it,” said Jean Carl, an IRS spokeswoman in Denver. “It will pave the way for otherstates to do the same.” The IRS will maintain a public-information office at vine, Calif., in a cash transaction. It 50 S. 200 East in Salt Lake City through April 15, but will close it when the tax-filing season ends. also signed an agreement to acquire Xeon Financial Corp. ofStateline, The newOne-Stop Tax Shop will be open 8 a.m. to Ney. 4:45 p.m. Monday through Friday. It also will be open from 8:30 a.m. to12:30 pm Saturdays through Feb. 20 and on April 3 and 10. This month, the company signed an agreement to acquire Comstock Ban corp of Reno, Nev. Both the Xeon and Comstock acquisitions are expected to close in the spring of this year. The center wascreated in a year when many taxpayers are likely to have plenty of questions. The IRS Restructuring and Reform Act, signed last year, created new rules, new tax credits and new waysoffiling and paying taxes. New U. Graduate Program Thepartnership is among waysthe IRSis trying to improverelations with taxpayers, Carl said. Starting this month, for example, taxpayers who have The University of Utah has estab- lished a graduatecertificate program in managementandtechnology to be been unsuccessful in resolving federal tax problems through normalchannels have 24-hour-a-dayaccess toa newtoll-free help line, (877) 777-4778. administered by the David Eccles School of Business and the College of Engineering. The program is designed to broad- en the knowledge base of master's of Rick Eagan The Salt Lake Tribune Kevin Healey,left, and Ed Rehburg erect banner welcoming taxpayers to combined information center. For the Tax Commission, the partnershipis a wayof SeeIRS, Page B-2 business administration students and graduate students in engineering or science. Tt has two tracks, One focuses on the design, development and management of information systems, The other focuses on product innovation. Utah Medical Sales Rise Utah Medical Products, Midvale, reported its sales rose 14 percent and its net income 12 percent during its 1998 fiscal year. ‘The manufacturerof dispc able aid and reusable medical produc its 1998 sales were $27.7 million, whichresulted in a net incomeof $4.8 million or 58.7 cents per share During the year, Utah Medical re- duced its debt by $2.5 million, used $4.2 million in cash to acquire a neo natal products line and another $1.7 million to repurchase 267,300 shares ofits stock on the open market “Overall, 1998 was a goodyear for Utah Medical,” said Kevin Cornwell, the company’s chief executiveofficer Hesaid the company anticipates continued double-digit growththis year even though the market for hos pital medical supplies is increasingly difficult for small companies America West-United Deal Would Impact West Some worry abouthigherair fares. Phoenix could lose jobs, corporate presence THE ASSOCIATEDPRESS PHOENIX — America West flight attendant Deanna Clarkson would like nothing better than to see United Airlines, the nation’s largest carrier, gobble up her air- line, theninth-largest. “My first reactionis, yahoo! Let’s do it!” said Clark- son, a@ 13-year veteran and a spokeswoman for the America West chapter of the Association of Flight At- tendants union, which has scuffled with airline manage ment for five years over contract issues, But somefinancial analysts, travel agents and others say they hope the United-America West deal fizzles, ‘They say passengers in Arizona and around the West likely would pay more for air travel — and haveoneless choice — if United swallows America West, whichof: fers 200 daily flights out of Phoenix. ‘The implications of an America West merger with United Airlines — America West acknowledges that it's also talked to other airlines about a possible business deal —are far-reaching. The future of America West's 11,000 employees — 8,100 of whomare based in Phoenix — hangs in the balante. A merger could meanlayoffs, cost-cutting and plimination of duplicate service Expandingits wings UAL Corp.. the parent of UnitedAirines, wants to buy America West Airlines. A look at the two companias: r Losing America West wouldcertainly be a blowto Phoenix's ego. Theairline, Unrrep Aiiines which paints some of its planesin the bright colorsof thecity’s pro sports teams is a highly visible corporateidentity in a metroarea that boasts onlya couple of Fortune 500 headquarters. es, it would be a blow to losethat corporate head Destinations UALCorp. 150 inthe United States and 29 other quarters and the presencethat such a strong company brings to our community," said Tempe Mayor Neil Guiliano, “But I'm more concernedabout the potential loss of jobs. Andthat’s an unknownright now.” Las Vegas is a hubfor both United and America West andis watching the proposeddealclosely, sincethecity is practically begging airlines to add moreflights to the city to helpfill a glut of hotel rooms “I'm not opposedto the marriage, but I'm not shout ing for joy,” saidBill Mahaffey, transportation manager HubLocations Number ot planes 1998 sales 1996 earings Employees Headquarters Serre Compenion Chicago, Denver, San Francisco, Washington, D.C, London, Tokyo 572 $17.56 bition $1.94 bition 81,900 Ek Grove Township, i AMERICA WEST AIRLINES America Went Holdings Corp. 60in North America Including six cities in Mexico and one in Canada Phoenix, Las Vegas, Columbus " $2.02 bition $108.6 mition 11,000 Tempe, Ants ” for the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Bureau “You'vegot twofine carriers attemptingto get married If it ine Teases the number of flights in my am ecstatic.” Manytravel agents take a dimview of United, which started the industry trend of slashing commissions, America West, on the other hand, treats travel agents well, offering cash bonuses and freetrips for agents who sell lots of tickets. Cherie Klomp, manager of Air & Sea Travel in Phoe nix, said she dislikes dealing with United's reservation employees and finds America West workers much more friendly and accommodating ‘It would be horrible for thevalley for our people to have tofly to Denver (a United hub) for everything Klompsaid, “It would be bad for connections, for weather, for everything |
