Story Filed: Monday, January 15, 2001 11:24 AM EST

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) -- Chesapeake Corp. plans to focus on its core business of specialty packaging by selling its poorly performing display division, along with three other units.

The Richmond-based paper manufacturer is selling Chesapeake Display and Packaging, which makes temporary standup displays for retail stores.

Also up for sale are Consumer Promotions International, which makes permanent displays mostly for department stores; Chesapeake Packaging, which makes cardboard boxes; and the company's share of Color-Box LLC, a joint venture with the paper-making group of Georgia Pacific Corp.

The four divisions accounted for about 40 percent, or $308 million, of the company's $768 million in total sales for the first nine months of fiscal 2000. However, the units had an operating loss of about $13 million during the same period. The company's operating income during that period was $26.5 million.

The company's display and packaging unit has come under scrutiny in recent months.

In October, Chesapeake announced it would revise its earnings statements for previous quarters.

The following month, the company said it had to reduce its announced earnings for the fiscal third quarter ended Oct. 1, and would restate financial results for the first two quarters of 2000, in large part because of accounting errors in the display-packaging unit.

By shedding its noncore businesses, Chesapeake intends to reposition itself as a specialty-packaging business. Since 1997 the company has sold its timber, linerboard and tissue-paper divisions and has been buying specialty-packaging companies mostly in Europe.

Northern Light

-- Anonymous, January 16, 2001