Executive Business Briefing

Here is a look at more of Friday's top business stories:

Auto production eases

SOUTHFIELD, Mich., April 19 (UPI) -- Ward's Automotive Reports said vehicle production this week in the United States, Canada and Mexico is expected to decline slightly to an estimated 362,687 units from the 369,850 cars and trucks built last week.

Ward's said including this week's estimates, calendar year North American output now totals 5,215,991 vehicles, up 6.1 percent from the same period last year.

In the U.S., automakers are expected to produce 270,701 vehicles this week, down 0.6 percent from the 272,470 cars and trucks built last week. To date, calendar 2002 U.S. vehicle output totals an estimated 3,831,258 units, up 9.2 percent from the 3,507,113 vehicles built during the same period a year ago.

This week's Canadian vehicle production is estimated at 56,898, a 6.2 percent decrease from the 60,638 units assembled last week. Estimated calendar year 2002 Canadian vehicle production now stands at 843,572 units, up 0.6 percent from the 838,359 vehicles produced during the same period a year ago.

Of the cars and trucks slated for production this week in the United States, General Motors accounted for 32.4 percent, Ford Motor 30.8 percent, Chrysler of DaimlerChrysler 13.7 percent while other manufacturers accounted for the remainder.

Earnings rise at PNC Financial

PITTSBURGH, April 19 (UPI) -- PNC Financial Services Group Inc. said its first-quarter net income rose to $317 million, or $1.11 a share, from $265 million, or 89 cents a share during the same period a year earlier.

Analysts on Wall Street had expected PNC to post a net income of $1.08 a share, according to Thomson Financial/First Call.

PNC said its net interest income, or money it makes from lending, rose to $593 million, up from $559 million a year ago.

Non-interest income, or fees, rose to $774 million from $715 million a year ago.

James E. Rohr, PNC chairman, president and chief executive officer, said, "An important element of our strategic plan over the past year has been to emphasize lower-risk, higher-return businesses.

"We're pleased with the continued progress we made in the first quarter. BlackRock and our Regional Community Bank led business performance and delivered solid results. We also made significant progress on our initiative to dispose of institutional loans held for sale. Our businesses are well positioned for what we believe will continue to be a challenging environment," Rohr said.

The company said loans held for sale related to the institutional lending repositioning declined $593 million or 23 percent from year end 2001.

BlackRock earnings grew 23 percent to $31 million compared with the first quarter of 2001 and first-quarter earnings from Regional Community Banking increased 11 percent, to $177 million from a year ago.

The lender said its loans to deposits ratio was 86 percent at March 31 and transaction deposits grew 5 percent on average compared with the prior year.

Service charges on deposits increased 8 percent to $54 million primarily due to an increase in transaction deposit accounts.

Brokerage fees rose to $55 million from $54 million a year ago and consumer services revenue was flat at $55 million.

Alaska Air posts wider loss

SEATTLE, April 19 (UPI) -- Alaska Air Group Inc., parent of Alaska Airlines Inc. and Horizon Air Industries Inc., said its first quarter losses widened slightly to $34.4 million, or $1.30 a share, from a loss of $33.1 million, or $1.25 a share during the same period a year earlier.

Analysts on Wall Street had expected the company to post a loss of $1.53 a share, according to Thomson Financial/First Call.

Operating revenue declined 3.7 percent from a year earlier to $497 million, while operating expenses declined 3.0 percent to $548 million.

The airline said its operating loss for the quarter was $51.4 million compared with an operating loss of $49.5 million a year earlier.

Chairman and chief executive officer John F. Kelly said, "We've seen a surprisingly quick recovery that has really exceeded expectations.

"Traffic increases at Alaska have been nothing short of remarkable, although yield continues to suffer. And Horizon is beginning to see significant cost improvements from its new fleet of Bombardier aircraft. Of course, we still had a loss, which in absolute terms is obviously disappointing, but in relative terms we're doing exceptionally well compared to the rest of the industry. The challenge now is to continue to execute our strategy and return to profitability," Kelly said.

Operationally, Alaska Airlines' passenger traffic in the first quarter increased 2.8 percent on a capacity increase of 0.9 percent.

Load factor increased 1.3 points to 66.7 percent.

Bill Ayer, chief executive officer, said, "Our traffic and load factor were certainly helped by the service to our new cities.

"The advance bookings we're seeing indicate that these new destinations should help us continue this trend in traffic in the months ahead," Ayer said.

The airline said its operating revenue per available seat mile, or ASM, declined 3.1 percent, while its operating cost per ASM excluding fuel increased 4.1 percent.

FPL Group's results rise 4 percent

JUNO BEACH, Fla., April 19 (UPI) -- FPL Group Inc., owner of Florida's largest utility, said its first quarter net income rose 4 percent to $135 million, or 80 cents a share, from $130 million, or 77 cents a share during the same period a year earlier.

Analysts on Wall Street had expected the company, which operates the Florida Power & Light Co. utility, to post a net income of 79 cents a share, according to Thomson Financial/First Call.

FPL said its operating revenue fell to $1.84 billion from $1.94 billion a year earlier.

Lew Hay, chairman and chief executive officer, said, " FPL Group's first quarter operating results were solid, despite a general downturn in the economy, milder weather in Florida and extreme drought conditions affecting our hydroelectric operations in the Northeast.

"With a solid first quarter under our belt and a new rate agreement in place at Florida Power & Light, we expect 2002 earnings to be $4.78 to $4.82," he said.

Hay said he expects flat earnings from the utility in 2002 and 15 percent to 20 percent earnings growth from its independent power production subsidiary, FPL Energy.

The company said the projected growth for FPL Energy in 2002 reflected the impact of the Northeast drought in the first quarter and assumes the addition of approximately 500 megawatts of wind generation, normal weather conditions the remainder of the year and no major declines in power markets.

"For 2003 through 2005, FPL Group expects to realize 6 to 8 percent average annual earnings growth," Hay said.

"We expect FPL to achieve average annual earnings growth of 4 to 5 percent, driven by anticipated growth in customer accounts and usage per customer, cost management and lower depreciation. Excluding the recently announced acquisition of the Seabrook Nuclear Generating Station, FPL Energy expects average annual earnings growth of 20 to 30 percent, as several gas-fired power projects transition from construction to operation, and we add at least 500 to 1,000 megawatts of wind generation," Hay added.

Earnings fall 95 percent at Woodhead

DEERFIELD, Ill., April 19 (UPI) -- Woodhead Industries Inc., a maker of electrical plugs and connectors, said its second-quarter net income dropped 95 percent to $164,000, or 1 cent a share, from $3.4 million, or 29 cents a share during the same period last year.

Excluding the effect of the $1 million restructuring charge, the company would have earned 8 cents a share.

Net sales for the quarter fell 18 percent to $42.6 million from $52 million last year.

Looking ahead, Woodhead said it expects third quarter earnings per share in the range of 13 cents to 16 cents a share, and projected revenue to increase between 7 percent to 10 percent over the second quarter.

The company also said it expects the job cuts it announced in the previous quarter, which affected about 10 percent of its global work force, will produce about $3 million in annual cost savings.

Aquila lowers outlook

KANSAS CITY, Mo., April 19 (UPI) -- Utility holding company Aquila Inc. cut its first-quarter earnings outlook, citing lower earnings from its energy trading and power operations.

Aquila said it expects to report diluted earnings per share of 32 cents.

Analysts on Wall Street were expecting the company to post a net income of 62 cents a share, according to Thomson Financial/First Call.

For all of 2002, Aquila lowered its outlook for per-share operating earnings to between $2.20 and $2.30 from its earlier view of $2.83 a share. Analysts on Wall Street were expecting the company to post a net income of $2.67 a share for the year.

Aquila also forecast annual earnings growth of 10 percent to 15 percent over three to five years as it increases its focus on energy merchant operations.