Williamson Tobacco Corp

Batus Inc.: The Louisville, Ky., holding company for the U.S. business interests of BAT Industries PLC of England said 1988 net income rose 15% to $535 million and sales advanced 7% to $6.3 billion, both records. Batus said Farmers Group, the Los Angeles-based insurance firm that it bought for $5.2 billion on Dec. 16, 1988, is being treated as having been acquired Dec. 31, 1988. Therefore, the balance sheet reflects the deal, but Farmers' results are not incorporated in the income statement.

A state appeals court has thrown out a $20-million jury award against Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corp. but narrowly agreed there was enough evidence that the company had tried to hide the dangers of smoking from the public. In a 2-1 decision, a three-judge panel with the Missouri Court of Appeals' Western District upheld the verdict against Brown & Williamson in a case filed by the family of a woman who died after smoking Kool brand cigarettes for almost 50 years.

A state appeals court has thrown out a $20-million jury award against Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corp. but narrowly agreed there was enough evidence that the company had tried to hide the dangers of smoking from the public. In a 2-1 decision, a three-judge panel with the Missouri Court of Appeals' Western District upheld the verdict against Brown & Williamson in a case filed by the family of a woman who died after smoking Kool brand cigarettes for almost 50 years.

Batus Inc.: The Louisville, Ky., holding company for the U.S. business interests of BAT Industries PLC of England said 1988 net income rose 15% to $535 million and sales advanced 7% to $6.3 billion, both records. Batus said Farmers Group, the Los Angeles-based insurance firm that it bought for $5.2 billion on Dec. 16, 1988, is being treated as having been acquired Dec. 31, 1988. Therefore, the balance sheet reflects the deal, but Farmers' results are not incorporated in the income statement.

The Italian island of Capri wants no part of Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corp.'s cigarette of the same name--no part except a legal settlement, at least. A lawsuit that the island filed against the Louisville-based tobacco company goes to trial in Rome on June 30. Capri officials say they do not want their paradise associated with a potentially harmful product, and Brown & Williamson has no right to market a cigarette in Italy if Capri vetoes the plan. The manufacturer has contended that the action is groundless because the company has complied with "all applicable laws in securing rights to use the Capri name in Italy and in other countries where the brand is sold," said company spokeswoman Valeris Oates.

The Senate overwhelmingly approved William Kennard, President Clinton's nominee to head the Federal Communications Commission. . . . A New York state supreme court judge granted class-action status to lawsuits against the biggest U.S. cigarette makers: RJR Nabisco Holdings Corp., Philip Morris Cos., Loews Corp., Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corp. and two trade groups. A tentative trial date has been set for Feb. 3.

Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corp. agreed to pay 52 U.S. states and territories $204 million it had withheld from payments due in January under a 1998 lawsuit settlement, the National Assn. of Attorneys General said. The association said Brown & Williamson, a unit of British American Tobacco, withheld the money because of a dispute about industrywide figures that form the basis for calculating the amounts due.

A federal appeals court threw out a $15-million punitive damage award to a lifelong smoker who sued R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. after losing his legs from a cigarette-related illness. But the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, in a split decision, left intact a Kansas jury's compensatory damages of $196,416, finding the cigarette maker failed to warn David Burton of the dangers of smoking.

The U.S. Supreme Court refused to consider arguments that the $206-billion nationwide tobacco settlement violates antitrust laws by letting cigarette makers jack up prices in concert. The justices, without comment, turned aside an appeal by two wholesalers opposed to the 1998 accord between tobacco companies and 46 states. The wholesalers sought to revive a suit against Philip Morris Cos., R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Holdings Inc. and British American Tobacco's Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corp.

RJR Boosts Cigarette Prices: R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. said its wholesale price increase on cheaper as well as premium brands, the first in 1 1/2 years, will amount to about 3 cents a pack. There was no immediate comment on pricing from Philip Morris USA, the biggest tobacco company, but industry analysts said the third biggest company, Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corp., told wholesalers it would match Reynolds' increase.

The Italian island of Capri wants no part of Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corp.'s cigarette of the same name--no part except a legal settlement, at least. A lawsuit that the island filed against the Louisville-based tobacco company goes to trial in Rome on June 30. Capri officials say they do not want their paradise associated with a potentially harmful product, and Brown & Williamson has no right to market a cigarette in Italy if Capri vetoes the plan. The manufacturer has contended that the action is groundless because the company has complied with "all applicable laws in securing rights to use the Capri name in Italy and in other countries where the brand is sold," said company spokeswoman Valeris Oates.