BRIEFCASE CAPSTONE STARTS REORGANIZATION.

Byline: - Staff and Wire Services

CHATSWORTH - The board of directors of Capstone Turbine began an internal reorganization of the company Wednesday and announced the resignation of Chief Operating Officer Norman Chambers.

Ake Almgren, CEO and board chairman, said the company would be organized in five divisions: sales and marketing, quality and customer service, engineering, operations, and administration.

``We expect this will create a more effective organization,'' Almgren said.

El Pollo Loco set at theme park

UNIVERSAL STUDIOS - El Pollo Loco ordered up some action Wednesday, as the Irvine-based chain announced its latest location, within the grounds of Universal Studios Hollywood.

The restaurant, located at the Hollywood Cantina, will open today, serving a full range of Mexican-theme chicken dishes. This signals El Pollo Loco's first foray into theme parks.

Guess? sales fall from '01 stats

Guess? Inc. reported Wednesday that total retail sales for the four weeks ended June 29 were $23.5 million, a decrease of 1.6 percent from sales of $23.8 million for the comparable period a year ago.

Comparable store sales for the June period decreased 6.2 percent. Comparable store sales for the company's full-priced retail stores and factory outlet stores declined 5.5 percent and 8.1 percent, respectively.

For the second quarter ended June 29, total retail sales decreased 4 percent to $79.9 million, compared with $83.2 million for the second quarter of 2001. Comparable store sales decreased 7.4 percent during the second quarter of 2002.

The company also announced that ``due to continued weakness in both the retail and wholesale channels,'' it now expects a diluted loss per share for the second quarter in the range of 16 cents to 18 cents, vs. the previously announced 12 cents to 14 cents.

$6.2 million deal for bank finished

CVB Financial Corp. and its principal subsidiary, Citizens Business Bank, reported Wednesday that their $6.2 million acquisition of Western Security Bank, National Association, was completed.

At the close of business Friday, Western Security Bank consolidated loans stood at $95.4 million, total deposits were $138.6 million and total assets were $146.1 million.

Ed Mylett will continue as the senior vice president and business financial center manager at Western Security's Burbank location at 4100 W. Alameda Ave. in Los Angeles.

All the customer service employees will remain with Citizens Business Bank, which now has 32 business financial centers located in 25 cities throughout Los Angeles, San Bernardino, Riverside, Orange and Kern counties.

UPS pilots say walkout looms

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Pilots who fly United Parcel Service planes will ground themselves in a show of solidarity if the Teamsters strike the giant package hauler, a pilots union chief said.

Robert Miller, president of the Independent Pilots Association, said UPS management has reached a crossroads in its relationship with unions representing pilots and its legions of workers on the ground.

A crucial test will come as UPS tries to negotiate a new contract with the Teamsters, he said. The current five-year contract will expire July 31, and the Teamsters voted to strike if an agreement is not reached by then.

Chip firm again lowers estimate

SAN JOSE - For the second time in two weeks, Advanced Micro Devices Inc. has slashed its second-quarter revenue estimates.

The Sunnyvale-based chip maker said late Tuesday it expects sales of about $600 million for the three months ended June 30, down from its June 18 estimate of $620 million to $700 million.

AMD, which last month blamed the warning on lower-than-expected demand for its Athlon and Duron microprocessors, had originally forecast revenue of $820 million to $900 million.

The company did not provide any explanation for the latest downward revision in a three-sentence news release. Spokesman Morris Denton declined to elaborate on the reasons for the latest warning.

AMD earned $17.4 million, or 5 cents a share, on revenue of $985 million in the second quarter of 2001. For the same period in 2002, analysts were expecting a loss of 36 cents a share on sales of $657 million, according to a survey by Thomson Financial/First Call before the latest warning.

AMD will report its full second-quarter results July 17.

Major airlines raise fares $20

NEW YORK - The nation's three largest airlines raised the price of certain round-trip fares by $20 for leisure travelers ahead of the July 4 holiday.

The ticket price increases introduced by American and matched by United and Delta on Wednesday apply to 14-day advance-purchase companion fares that require a Saturday night stay.

A spokesman for American, which initiated the move late Tuesday, said the change applies to the lowest fares in the carrier's pricing structure.

Punished firm wins contract

WASHINGTON - An advertising agency punished for overcharging the government for its work on an anti-drug campaign won a nearly $152 million contract Wednesday to run the ad program for at least another year.

New York-based Ogilvy & Mather won the contract over four other bidders, according to a statement from the Navy, which handles contracting functions for the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy.

Ogilvy & Mather agreed to pay a $1.8 million penalty earlier this year to settle charges that it overcharged the drug policy office. Congressional investigators found last year that Ogilvy & Mather billed the government for millions of dollars of work it didn't perform.