News In Brief

Compaq Computer Corp. said it will lay off an additional 4,000 workers, bringing its total cuts this year to 8,500 jobs, or about 12 percent of its workforce. Houston-based Compaq had hoped to downsize through attrition and voluntary departures, but the flagging tech economy offers so few opportunities that layoffs were needed to speed up the process. Compaq simultaneously announced its second-quarter revenues fell 17 percent from a year ago.

Amerada Hess Corp. said it will pay $2.7 billion for Triton Energy Ltd., an independent oil-exploration firm based in Dallas with operations off the coast of West Africa. Under the mostly stock deal, New York-based Amerada Hess will also assume $500 million in Triton debt. Analysts said Amerada Hess's interest in Triton is part of its strategy to become more of an exploration and production firm and less of a gasoline seller.

Instant-photo company Polaroid Corp. is seriously considering filing for bankruptcy protection and also is discussing a debt restructuring plan with its bankers, The Wall Street Journal reported. Citing people familiar with the talks, the Journal said other options for Polaroid might include dumping assets or selling business units. The instant-photo company has reportedly been hurt by the growing popularity of one-hour picture development.

(c) Copyright 2001. The Christian Science Monitor