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Show The Salt LakeTribune _ BUSINESS JB SAVVY CONSUMER, C-5 MEBUSINESS GLANCE, C-7 NOVEMBER20,2001 ConocoPhillips Is All About Survival YESTERDAY'S MARKET Indicators That is analysts’ take on what oil giants call a merger of equals NASDAQ Dow Jones M RECALLS ALERT, C-5 Page C-4 BY ALAN CLE! Oil prices have already plunged to their lowest level in more than two years despite/efforts by refiner and a gas retailing giant, with 17,000 filling OPECto stopthefree fall, which could farther push down prices at the gas pump. Gas is now selling for fuel, and other petroleum products at 5,000 outlets in the United States, while Phillips sells fuel at more than 12,000 stations under brands such as and is averaging $1.23 a gallon at stations’nation- Phillips 66, Circle K, and 76. The all-stock deal, announced Sunday, gives the new company — named ConocoPhillips — a $35 billion marketvalue. It puts,it in the No. 3 position wide, according to the Lundberg Survey. In a conference call with analysts Monday, top and Conoco Inc. as a mergerof equals, analysts de- Phillips and Conoco officials said the merger will allow them to saveatleast $750 million annually, in part through the elimination of an unspecified scribed the combinationas a deal doneto survive. numberof jobs from the combined company’s ros- NEW YORK — While executives promoted their $15.5 billion deal to unite Phillips Petroleum Co. If Phillips and Conoco had not decided to join forces, analysts said Monday, they risked losing “CLOSE: Close: 584.29 1,151.06 —| Utah’s Top Performers market shareto competitors in an unhealthy business climate for all but the largest petroleum ter of58,000 employees. Phillips chairman James Mulvasaid it is too soon to say how manypositions will be cut, but Gheit predicted about 10 percent of the work force companies, “This is absolutely a matter of survival — sur- wouldbe eliminated. “You cannotsay you are cutting costs if you cut vival not necessarily to thrive,:but to guarantee they will survive,” said Fadel Gheit, an analyst at Fahnestock & Co. “If oil and gas prices collapse, smaller companieswill be swept away.” less than 5 percent,” Gheit said “Andif you want to be aggressive with a sharp knife you can cut15 to 20 percent, whichI see as unlikely.” measuresthe stock performanceofthe The combined companywill be the country’s top ON THE ATTACK state's major publiclyheld stations nationwide. Conoco sells gasoline, diesel less than $1 a gallon in someparts of the country behind Exxon Mobil Corp: and ChevronTexaco Corp.in the United States, and ranksit sixth largest in the world. ConocoPhillips will have reserves of8.7 billion barrels of oil equivalent anddaily production of1.7 million barrels. Officials took pains Monday to describe the deal as a merger of equals, though underits terms, Phillips shareholders will end up with a 56.6 percentstake in the new company and Conoco shareholders will own 43.4 percent. Although Phillips has a larger stake, the new headquarterswill be in Houston — where Conoco is based — insteadof Bartlesville, Okla. Olympic WebSites TiS Get a New Look, Are Easier to Use The Dow Jones industrials came a step closerto 10,000 Monday, managing a solid rally as reports of U.S. military victories in Afghanistan increased hopes that the worstis overfor the market. GEto Do SkyWest Engine Maintenance Systems will be run by Microsoft BY VINCE HORIUCHI General Electric Co., the largest THESALT LAKE TRIBUNE makerofjet engines, won a 16-year contract valued at$1 billion for en- The Salt Lake Organizing Committee on Monday unveiled its redesigned Olympic Websites, the Internet portals to everything related to gine maintenancefrom St. Georgebased SkyWestInc., the largest U.S. independent regional carrier. Bloomberg Newssaid the agree- mentcovers 140 Bombardier Inc. CJR aircraft with General Electric's CF34 engines. Thetotal includes SkyWest's 40-planefleet and aircraft underfirm ce the 2002 Winter Games. ‘The sites were redesigned after the Web company previously in charge of them, Quokka Sports, pulled out earlier this year amid finan- orderto be delivered through 2004. Maintenance andoverhaul workwill be done at GE's Strotherplant near cial troubles. ‘There are two main differences between the newsites (www.olympics.com, Arkansas City, Kan. ‘The contract comesasairlines fly fewerplanes dueto a dropin travel following September’s terrorist attacks in New York and Washington, www.nbcolympics.com and www.saltlake2002.com) and their old versions under D.C. Service contracts keep revenue andprofit steady for engine makers such as GE, which often do not make Quokka: They now sport new looks with more streamlined a large profit on the engines themselves. navigation, and they are being run by a companythatlikely will be around for awhile — Microsoft. MSNBC.com,the Internet newssite managed in a partnership between the Red- GEAircraft Engines,based in Ev- endale, Ohio,also said'it will convert 20 additional existing engines for SkyWestto an upgraded version that is more fuel-efficient, has fewer parts and lower maintenance costs. mond, Wash., company and NBC television, was con- Sky West operates Delta Connections and United Express under mar- tracted to take over the Olympic sites since Quokka keting agreementswith Delta Air Lines Inc. and UALCorp. closed its doors last April. Shares of SkyWestrose 14 cents to | / CYBER EYE Olympic organizers havehired a companyto police unauthorized broadcasts of Games events on the Web. MSNBC.com not only is in chargeofall ofthe content on $22.35 Monday.GE,based in Fairfield, Conn., rose 30 cents to $41.15. GEAircraft provided $10.8 billion of the parent company’s $130 billion the sites, including newsstories and athlete biographies, Gary Porter/Knight Ridder News Services in revenuelast year. Don Gorske of Fond duLac, Wis., consumed thetitle for the most McDonald's Big Macburgers eaten by downing his 18,000th earlier this month. The Golden Arches’ standard has beenthe staple of the 47-year-old prison guard’s diet since 1972. As part of a mathematics exercise, Fond du Lac High Schoolstudents calculated that Gorske has consumed the equivalent of 800 headsof lettuce, 820 onions, 1,900 whole pickles, 563 pounds of cheese,almost 100 gallonsof special sauce,beeffrom more than 14 headofcattle and, mostimpressively, 6,250,000 sesameseeds. Utah Employers to Hire Despite a slumping economynationwide, Wasatch Front employers expect to hire more workers next year, accordingto a surveyreleased Monday. A survey by temporary employ- but also will manage the servers and infrastructure that pipes them to the have a pretty global view of ; things and understand whatis good content for a global audience and whatis appropri- ; ate for American and NBC audiences.” The nbeolympics.com site ’ mostly will concentrate on stories about American athletes and is meant to be a | companion to those watching the Games on NBC. The Olympics.com site is built mainly for an international audience and will highlight stories about athletes from other countries. Ultimately, however, each site will have all the samestories but, will focus on different ones for their respective front pages. SaltLake2002.com, the homepage for the Salt Lake Organizing Committee, will still be the place for ticket | purchases and volunteer ; registration. In addition to biographies ., and other stories about the , athletes, the sites also will have interactive features such as animated descrip- tions of various sports, video Internet. stories on athletes, and the “This team we broughttogether understands the Olympics well,” said Tom Feuer, the coordinating producerfor NBCSports.com who is in ability to cast your own votes with the judges on some events. “Say Michelle Kwan skates , charge of the newsites. “We See OLYMPIC, Page C-5 ment agency ManpowerInc. found that26 percentof state employers interviewed said they plan newhiring in the first three months of 2002. Just 12 percentforesee cutbacks and 62 percentexpect to keep the status quo. ‘The predictionsare the result ofa telephonesurvey of90 employers doing business from Ogdento Orem. ‘The Salt Lake area stands to benefit most, with 37 percent ofemployers expectingjob growth and 53 percent ig nocl , Earlier this month thestate's unemploymentfigure reached its high: est point since March 1993, total of 48,300 Utahresidents were unemployed, a 35 percent increase from the same timein 2000. Optometrists File Suit Over Exclusion by IHC BY!STEVEN OBERBECK ‘THESALTLAKETRIBUNE A groupof optometrists on Monday named Intermountain Health Care in a federal antitrust lawsuit thatalleges the company illegally bars its health insurance customers from visiting optometrists for eye care. Instead, THC requiresits policy holders to visit approved ophthal. mologists, the lawsuit filed by 49 optometrists Salt Lake, Davis, Weber, Cache, Utah counties and western Summit County contends, “This isn’t a case of THC not wanting to do business with Dr. Smith or Dr. Jones,” said Daniel L. Berman, the optometrists’ attorney. Huntsmans Get Award ists Jon and Karen Huntsman are recipients of the 2001 National Ernst & Young Entrepreneur ofthe Year award for principle-centered the Huntsman Cancer of Utah. » The competition helps keep costs down, said Mark Hennen,chairman of the Eye Care Benefits Center for the American Optometric Association in St. Louis, Mo. “I would guess about 75 to 80 percentof the plans offered nationally have optometric benefits,” Hennen said. “And lot of times when they don’t, there are physicians and ophthalmologists in positions of authority [making the decision].” ‘The lawsuitalleges that IHC and its panel of approved ophthalmologists have conspired to bar optometrists so they can fix the price of eye-care services along the Wasatch Front. In turn, IHCallegedly is able to “THCis excluding an entire class of force its health-care plan customers to use its surgical facilities when health-care providers.” hold doctorates in required. Suid esosene cecvions tater form most eye-care services, surgery. They can agen al and treat eye diseases and mo dee, THCsaid the allegations are false and unsupported. “This suit is an unwarranted at- Uncle Sam will reward low- and middle-income taxpayers who Credit rate ee Ey 50% $0 to $15,000 $0 to $30,000 The credit, which is worth up begs 20% $15,000 to $16,250 $30,000 to $32,500 percent the amount saved,is onlyoffrom, 10% $16,250 to $25,000 $32,500 to $50,000 or other quali yi ng retiremer it . “Based on moxiified adjusted gross income Income range* Single ‘ Marriedfiling jointly ©2001 KRT Even With a Low Income, You Can ! Boost Savings for Your Retirement BY MARK SCHWANHAUSSER KNIGHT RIDDER NEWSSERVICE Next year, the new tax bill will give Americans whocan afford to do so the right to stash away more — sometimes a lot more —for retirement. But in the final weeks of 2001, it is low-income ¥ plan to save anything this year, hold offuntil January. In effect, you can double-dip. For example,say you qualify only for a 4 percent credit. Scraping Fino in an IRA not nly would trig ger a $300 tax deduction, but you = would also get a $200 1 \ credit. A companymatching contribution would be extra gravy. workers who might have » the most to gain by plan‘Arceok oi eerrrYo “omy ne ning smartly right now —then procrastinating. costs you $1,500 to put Starting Jan. 1, such workers can away $2,000,” said H&R Block’s Kathy qualify for a credit for saving up to Burlison. $2,000 in an IRA, 401(k) or other qualSomething else to consider; ifying retirement plan. @ If you have been laid off and Ifyou are married, you can qualify might have to tap your retirement , for a 50 percent credit — worth as plans prematurely to make ends ” much as $1,000 — ifyour modified ad- meet, project whetheryou will be ina justed gross income is less than lower tax bracket in 2001 or 2002. That $30,000, The credit drops to 20 percent, wy you can minimize the income then 10 pete as your income rises ramtyauar sangloyed, open Keogh plan by Dee.31. Tranehate Clearly, it is hard to save $2,000 to fund it until you file your return, when your income is solow.But ifyou tyoumnsteitapyered |
