BRIEFCASE NORTHROP FINISHES TRW INTEGRATION.

Byline: Staff and Wire Services

Los Angeles-based Northrop Grumman Corp. said Thursday that it has completed the integration of defense-related operations acquired last December from TRW Inc.

Two new operating sectors were created from that acquisition - Reston, Va.-based Mission Systems and Redondo Beach-headquartered Space Technology.

Space Technology links far-flung military forces with space-based communications networks, keeps a global eye on hostile threats with early warning satellites, explores the universe with high-performance space telescopes and science spacecraft, and probes closer to home with earth science and remote sensing platforms.

The acquisition of TRW was a capstone event in a decade-long series of mergers and acquisitions. Since 1994, Northrop Grumman has acquired 16 companies, growing from about $5 billion in annual revenues to an estimated $25 billion to $26 billion for 2003, and from about 30,000 employees to nearly 120,000.

Countrywide gets facility in Arizona

CALABASAS - Calabasas-based Countrywide Financial Corp. said Thursday that it has bought an 80,000-square-foot facility in Chandler, Ariz.

The action coincides with Countrywide's growth strategy, which focuses expansion efforts to business-friendly areas outside the state of California, where the company's headquarters are located.

``In addition to the area's favorable economic environment, expansion into Arizona offers many benefits to Countrywide, including a quality work force and the ability to enhance our disaster recovery capabilities,'' said Anne McCallion, managing director and chief administrative officer of Countrywide Financial Corp.

The building will house about 440 employees. The first occupants of the building are expected to be members of Full Spectrum Lending, a Countrywide subsidiary.

The company has more than 25 branch offices in Arizona, but the Chandler facility will be its first corporate facility in the state.

Newmont Mining stalled inquiry

RENO - The world's largest gold producer stonewalled state investigators looking into whistle-blower complaints about pollution at one of its Nevada mines, state officials say.

Newmont Mining Corp. officials did not allow the Nevada Division of Environmental Protection to interview several employees until the Attorney General's Office intervened, according to a copy of the division's report obtained by The Associated Press.

The company's interference caused a two-month delay in the investigation, which ultimately did not find evidence to support the bulk of two former employees' allegations that Newmont repeatedly discharged dangerous pollution at the open pit Lone Tree mine near Winnemucca, state officials wrote.

The delay could have compromised the investigation because state officials ``lost the element of surprise,'' the report said.

Newmont said Thursday that it acted legally and defended its environmental practices.

Ford backing off fuel-economy vow

Executives of the Ford Motor Co. on Thursday backed away from a pledge to increase the fuel economy of its sport utility vehicles 25 percent by 2005.

Ford made that pledge three years ago, and General Motors and the Chrysler Group of DaimlerChrysler subsequently said they would at least match Ford's improvements. Environmentalists hailed the plan as a ray of hope that the nation's swelling appetite for gasoline could be curbed.

Ford is not abandoning the pledge entirely, said one Ford executive, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, but is indicating it does not know whether it can meet the original timetable.

``Are we still trying to get there? Absolutely,'' this executive said. ``Will we get there by that deadline? It's unclear.''

The executive attributed Ford's shift in part to the company's plan to produce a version of its Escape SUV with a fuel-efficient hybrid system, which is behind schedule because of technology problems. The company is also less bullish on the program because tax credits for such vehicles have not materialized in Congress.