STATEWIDE

AHOLD REACHES DEAL FOR CONVENIENCE STORE CHAIN

Dutch supermarket giant Royal Ahold said yesterday it has reached a deal to sell its chain of 198 Wilson Farms, Sugarcreek, and Tops Xpress convenience stores to investment group WFI Acquisition. The purchase price for the stores, which are operated by Buffalo-based subsidiary Tops Markets, was not disclosed. The deal is expected to close in the second quarter. A former Tops chairman and chief executive, Savino Nanula, who left the company when it was acquired by Ahold in the early 1990s, will serve as chairman of the board of WFI Acquisition, which was formed by Nanco Enterprises of Buffalo and New York-based Bruckmann, Rosser, Sherrill & Company. The convenience stores employ about 2,400 people in western, central, and northern New York.

– Associated Press

ECONOMY

1ST-QUARTER GROWTH SLOWED, INFLATION ROSE

The American economy grew at a 3.1% annual pace in the first quarter, the slowest in two years, while inflation accelerated. Inventories swelled as consumers and businesses reined in spending, suggesting cutbacks in production may hinder growth this quarter. An inflation gauge tracked by the Federal Reserve rose the most since late 2001, according to a Commerce Department report released yesterday in Washington. The initial estimate of gross domestic product trailed the 3.5% median forecast in a Bloomberg News economist survey. Slower growth suggests there’s little need for central bankers to raise interest rates faster, even with inflation building, economists said. Higher fuel costs stung consumers and made companies less inclined to buy equipment as orders slowed. Inventories increased the most since the second quarter of 2000. “If this inventory is not cleared quickly, it will lead to cutbacks at the factory,” said Chris Rupkey, an economist at Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi in New York. A report from the Labor Department yesterday showed a 21,000 increase in initial jobless claims last week to 320,000. The average number of filings this year is down from the same period in 2004, the best year for hiring since 1999.

– Bloomberg News

EARNINGS

DAIMLERCHRYSLER 1ST-QUARTER PROFIT FALLS ON SMART PROBLEMS

DaimlerChrysler, the world’s fifth-largest carmaker, said first-quarter profit declined 30% on the cost of revamping the Smart small-car unit and fixing defective Mercedes-Benz vehicles. Truck division sales and earnings surged. Net income fell to 288 million euros ($372 million) from 412 million euros a year earlier, Chief Financial Officer Bodo Uebber said. Earnings before interest and tax at the commercial-vehicle unit almost tripled to 714 million euros. DaimlerChrysler, based in Stuttgart, Germany, expects a “turnaround” at Mercedes in the second quarter as new models boost sales and costs decline, Mr. Uebber said. Mercedes, which is introducing a new version of the S-Class model this year, slipped behind BMW in quarterly sales for the first time in more than a decade.

– Bloomberg News

MOLSON COORS HAS 1ST-QUARTER LOSS; O’NEILL TO RESIGN

Molson Coors Brewing Company, created by the merger of Adolph Coors and Molson, had an unexpected first-quarter loss as sales in America and Canada fell and the company made $30 million in severance payments to former executives. The stock had its biggest drop in 12 years. Separately, Molson Coors Vice Chairman Daniel O’Neill, who led the merger, said he’s quitting May 31. Molson Coors’s net loss was $46.5 million, or 74 cents a share, the Golden, Colo.-based company said in a statement yesterday.

– Bloomberg News

IN THE COURTS

AMAZON.COM AGREES TO PAY $20 MILLION IN LAWSUIT

Amazon.com, the largest Internet retailer, agreed to pay $20 million to settle a lawsuit alleging it misled investors in February 2000 when it sold $681 million of debt. The company earlier this month agreed to the settlement of the lawsuit that claimed Amazon.com and its executives made false or misleading statements in connection with the sale of 6.875% convertible notes.

– Bloomberg News

NATIONAL

BOEING MUST COMPETE FOR $3.3 BILLION IN C-130 WORK

Boeing must compete again for U.S. Air Force work worth over $3 billion to upgrade avionics on C-130 transports because of a conflict of interest in the original contract. Michael Dominguez, acting secretary of the Air Force, announced his decision in an April 26 letter to U.S. Comptroller General David Walker two months after a government agency concluded that the 2001 contract was tainted by the then service acquisition chief, Darleen Druyun. The original award was worth $4.1 billion and Boeing will keep the ongoing development portion, which is worth about $1 billion. The production phase – producing and installing the electronics upgrade kits – will be competed, Mr. Dominguez wrote. Lockheed Martin, L-3 Communications Holdings, and BAE Systems Plc protested the award in October after Ms. Druyun told federal prosecutors she improperly influenced Boeing contracts.

– Bloomberg News

MARKETS

CHICAGO BOARD OF TRADE PLANS INITIAL PUBLIC OFFERING

The Chicago Board of Trade, the second-biggest American futures exchange, plans an initial public offering in the second half of this year as it tries to duplicate the success of bigger rival the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. The Board of Trade currently expects to offer $150 million worth of shares, the company said yesterday in an e-mailed statement. The 157-year-old Board of Trade earlier this month voted to become a for-profit company, a necessary step before selling shares to the public. The plans follow in the footsteps of the Mercantile Exchange, which in 2002 became the first American financial exchange to sell shares to the public.

– Bloomberg News