Compiled from wire reports

Conseco auction's opening delayed

An auction of Carmel, Ind.-based Conseco Inc.'s finance unit, scheduled for Friday, was pushed back to next week because of the number and complexity of the bids submitted, the company said.

Spokeswoman Brenda Adrian said the court-supervised auction of Conseco Finance was to technically open Friday but immediately adjourned to Tuesday.

She declined to disclose the number of bidders or their identities.

The final sale hearing is still scheduled for Wednesday.

Conseco Inc. said at the time of its bankruptcy filing in December that it intended to sell off its beleaguered Conseco Finance unit to help pay off more than $6.5 billion in debt.

Eaton unveils finance plan

Cleveland-based Eaton Corp., the world's No. 2 maker of hydraulic equipment, will cut costs and use acquisitions to increase profit as it faces a third straight year of stagnant sales, chief executive Alexander Cutler said Friday.

Acquisitions will add about 37 cents a share to 2003 profit, Cutler told analysts and investors in New York. Eaton will eliminate an unspecified number of jobs and close factories as it integrates four recent acquisitions, he said.

Steel Dynamics acquires company

Steel Dynamics Inc. this week said it gained full ownership of a steel-building components maker by purchasing the remaining stake that it did not already control.

Fort Wayne-based Steel Dynamics bought the 46.5 percent stake of New Millennium Building Systems that previously was held by New Process Steel Corp., a privately held Houston steel processor.

Financial terms were not disclosed.