Knight Ridder Inc., publisher of the San Jose Mercury News and the Miami Herald has named Clark Hoyt, vice president/news since 1993, as Washington editor to supervise the company's Washington Bureau and oversee its wire service. Gary Blonston, who had been Washington Bureau Chief, died last week after a long bout with cancer. Knight Ridder, which also publishes the Philadelphia Inquirer and other newspapers, said it named Jerry Ceppos, executive editor of the San Jose Mercury News since 1995, to succeed Hoyt as vice president/news, a corporate staff position. The Mercury News said it named David Yarnold, its managing editor and a 20-year veteran of the newspaper, to succeed Ceppos as executive editor.

CompuCom posts Q1 net loss

Dallas based Network integration firm CompuCom Systems Inc. said that it posted a first quarter net loss, missing analysts' expectations. A statement said that amid weaker thanexpected product demand and lower gross margins the company's first quarter revenue rose 13 per cent to $493 million. It posted a net loss for the quarter of $2.3 million or 5 cents per share versus net earnings of $3.8 million or 8 cents per share in the year-ago period.

H&M shares soar 10% on Q1 profit

Shares in Sweden's Hennes & Mauritz AB soared 10 per cent as the fashion retailer's combination of inexpensive clothes marketed by supermodels delivered a 68-per cent rise in profits. The share was further boosted by news H&M -- which has featured models Naomi Campbell and Cindy Crawford and stars like Johnny Depp in its ads -- planned to open its first store in the United States next year and move into Spain for the first time. A U.S. presence is seen by investors as crucial in the company's plans to expand globally. "They must be quite confident that their concept is holding and that they can go further with it," Paribas Scandinavia analyst Christian Diebitsch, who has a "buy" recommendation onthe share and a target price of 850 crowns, told Reuters. H&M ended 67 crowns higher at 737, off a midsession record 747. The share has increased almost fourfold since April 1997 when it cost 199 crowns. H&M, posting first-quarter results for the first time, said pre-tax profit was 759 million crowns ($91.1 million) in the three months ended February. Sales rose 25 percent to 7.28 billion crowns. "It was a strong result and the long-term growth prospects look good... Everyone's raising their long-term growth forecasts," Swedbank analyst said.

Albemarle tops bid for Albright

US chemicals group Albemarle Corp trumped French rival Rhodia when it produced a 502 million pound ($808 million) agreed offer for Britain's Albright & Wilson Plc Albemarle's latest offer of 160 pence in cash for each Albright & Wilson (A&W) share is a 30 pence rise over its originally agreed offer in March and trumps a 145 pence a share hostile bid from interloper ISPG Plc. ISPG is a company set up by Rhodia and privateAustrian firm Donau Chemie to buy A&W. "The global chemicals industry continues to restructure and the combination of Albright & Wilson with Albemarle will create a powerful platform, from which to grow and create value," said Albright & Wilson Chairman Sir Christopher Benson. But rival bidder ISPG Plc said in a statement it was still considering its position after Albemarle's latest offer and Rhodia said Albright & Wilson remains a strategic interest. "We will consider all our options and make our position public in coming days, within a fortnight from now." Rhodia is hoping to sweep A&W out ofAlbemarle's hands, but not actually acquire it until its parent, Paris-based Rhone-Poulenc can complete a complicated merger with German chemical giant Hoechst AG. ISPG's offer is being financed by Rhodia, which has an option to buy ISPG from January 1, 2000. Although Albemarle already owns about 19 per cent of A&W, the success of its latest bid may lie in the hands of A&W's biggest shareholder, Phillips & Drew FundManagement, which owns a 23.1% stake. At the time of ISPG's offer the fund manager agreed to sell its 23.1 per cent stake to Rhodia on condition that an offer of 160 pence per share or more did not emerge from a third party.