Medigap rates to drop or stay flat
THE REGION
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Massachusetts plans to lower or keep steady premiums for senior citizens enrolled in two health plans designed to bridge the gap between Medicare and the cost of medical care. The insurer aims to drop the monthly premium for Medex Core by 8 percent next year to $77.36 and essentially keep flat the premium for Medex Bronze at $138.10. Premiums for Medex Gold would increase 10 percent to $518.96, vs. 14 percent this year. Premiums for the new Medex Core Plus plan would grow 3.5 percent to $162.38. Blue Cross executives said price increases for Medigap policies are slowing because members are staying in hospitals less and using slightly fewer prescription drugs. The state must approve the changes, which would take effect in March. (Liz Kowalczyk)
City OK's expanded retail at Newbry
The Boston Redevelopment Authority has approved a plan for more retail space at 501 Boylston St., once New England Mutual Life Insurance Co.'s headquarters. The developer, Beacon Capital Partners, has renamed the Back Bay building The Newbry and will convert some office and mezzanine space into multiple floors of retail. The upper floors will continue to be offices. Also, the BRA approved expansion plans for the Tea Party Museum, which was damaged by fire; a new Post Office building for Jamaica Plain; the conversion of an office building at 99 Broad St. into housing; and 22 new row house-style condos at 3 Dorchester Ave., South Boston. The BRA also approved new zoning rules designed to encourage condo development in the Fenway. (Chris Reidy)
CMGI trims loss in quarter
CMGI Inc.'s fiscal fourth-quarter loss narrowed sharply on lower restructuring costs. The Waltham supply chain management company posted a net loss of $6.8 million, or 2 cents a share, compared with a year-earlier loss of $16.4 million, or 4 cents a share. Loss from continuing operations in the year-ago quarter was $29.6 million, or 7 cents a share. Restructuring costs in the recent period were $38,000, down from $26.2 million last year. Net fourth-quarter revenue fell to $96.5 million, from $97.9 million. Revenue for the recent period was off 8 percent from the third quarter's $105.8 million. (Dow Jones)
Turnpike board OK's YMCA plans
The Massachusetts Turnpike Authority board unanimously voted to approve plans for a 125,000-square-foot YMCA of Greater Boston in the North End, adjacent to the Government Center garage. Residents generally supported the five-story facility, which will include two swimming pools, a gym, and neighborhood recreational space. The YMCA, in competition with a proposal for a museum of history, won the designation last year. The facility could be built by 2008. (Thomas C. Palmer Jr.)
Electronics retailer to close six stores
Tweeter Home Entertainment Inc. will close six of its Bang & Olufsen retail stores. As a result, Canton-based Tweeter expects $2.4 million to $2.6 million in exit costs and impairment charges, mostly related to the write-off of the remaining net book value of tangible assets, lease termination fees, and inventory costs. (Dow Jones)
Staples gets Bank of America pact
Staples Inc. won a five-year, $275 million contract to supply Bank of America Corp. with office supplies, making the Charlotte, N.C., bank one of the office-supply chain's biggest customers. Staples, of Framingham, supplied FleetBoston Financial Corp. before Bank of America's $48 billion acquisition of FleetBoston. Staples' contract division, which supplies medium-to-large companies, accounted for a third of its $3.7 billion in North American delivery sales. (Naomi Aoki)
Spag's to become a Building 19
Spag's Supply Inc., a Central Massachusetts institution since 1934, is being converted to a Building 19 store nearly two years after the Shrewsbury discount retailer was acquired by the Hingham company. Spag's, which two years ago was renamed Spag's 19, has not profited, said Building 19 chief executive Jerry Ellis. Ellis said his respect for the late Anthony "Spag" Borgatti Jr. kept him from making changes sooner. (AP)
THE NATION
Carriers cut price of Net phone services
AT&T Corp. and Vonage Holdings Corp. cut the price of their Internet phone services by $5 a month. Hours after AT&T cut the price of CallVantage, which offers unlimited calling, to $30 from $35, Vonage said it would cut its unlimited service to $25 from $30. Edison, N.J.-based Vonage, the largest US "voice over Internet protocol" provider, with 270,000 subscribers, said customers who had been paying $25 a month for unlimited local calls and up to 500 minutes of long distance would automatically be boosted to full, unlimited service. CallVantage, Vonage, and other Net phone plans require customers to buy a broadband connection from a cable or phone company. (Peter J. Howe)
Netflix, TiVo to offer movies online
Netflix Inc., the largest mail-order video-rental service, and TiVo Inc., which makes digital video recorders, will work together to develop a service offering movies downloaded from the Internet. The companies face growing competition: Blockbuster Inc., the world's largest video-store chain, has started a service similar to Netflix, which mails movies on digital video discs to customers. TiVo is competing with cable-television companies that offer their own digital recorders. (Bloomberg)
Chicago Board of Trade may go public
The Chicago Board of Trade may sell shares to the public after it completes a switch to a for-profit company. Restructuring plans "are designed to permit CBOT Holdings to more easy facilitate conditions for the creation of public markets for its equity securities," the exchange said in a filing. Chairman Charles Carey told members he wants them to vote by year's end on a plan to turn memberships into shares. (Bloomberg)
Toyota to send more hybrids to US
Toyota Motor Corp. will double the allocation of Prius hybrid cars for the US market in 2005, part of a goal to sell 300,000 gasoline-electric hybrid vehicles worldwide by the end of next year. Toyota said it has already sold 100,000 Priuses in the United States, where they went on sale in summer 2000, and over 250,000 worldwide. Sales of Prius, the world's first mass-produced hybrid car, began in December 1997. "With this significant increase in allocation, Prius will become one of our top-selling passenger cars as it continues to solidify its position as a mainstream vehicle," said Don Esmond, general manager of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Toyota also said it will sell two more hybrid vehicles in the United States early next year: the Lexus RX 400h and Toyota Highlander sport utility vehicles. (AP)
. . .Etc.
Raytheon Co. plans to buy back as much as $1 billion of its debt securities. Chief executive William Swanson has said the company will reduce debt to $5.2 billion by year-end to improve its credit rating . . . Storage Technology Corp., a data storage hardware and software firm in Colorado, has acquired Storability Software Inc. of Southborough. Terms were not released. Storability makes software for companies to manage data-storage devices. . . . Manulife Financial Corp. will close two funds, Elliott & Page Active Bond and Elliott & Page Global MultiStyle, because they duplicate funds added when the Toronto company bought John Hancock Financial Services Inc. (Globe staff and wire services)
