Britain rejects euro

Britain isn’t ready to adopt the euro now, Treasury chief Gordon Brown told Parliament on Monday, but the government will pursue reforms that could lay the ground for a referendum within a year.

Brown, the chancellor of the exchequer, said that although Britain’s economy was beginning to converge with that of the 12-nation euro zone, it had not gone far enough.

The government, which favors membership of the single currency in principle, said it would readdress the issue within a year, and would publish enabling legislation for a referendum on membership within months.

The chancellor said the volatility of the housing market and its potential to cause inflation were among the key reasons why Britain could not yet join.

Brown said membership could increase Britain’s political influence in the European Union and expand British trade with its European neighbors by 50 percent over 30 years.

Meeting: Area exporter to speak at Kansas International

Allen Levine, of Lawrence-based Pines International, will discuss exporting strategies Friday at a meeting of Kansas International.

Levine, who has done business in Thailand, Malaysia, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Australia and Canada, will discuss ways the manufacturer of wheat grass products has boosted exports for the company.

The event will begin at 7:30 a.m. Friday at Alvamar Country Club, 1809 Crossgate Drive. There is a $15 cost for the event, which includes breakfast. For more information, call 865-4426.

Agriculture: ConAgra Foods to sell chicken operations

ConAgra Foods Inc. has agreed to sell its chicken processing operations to poultry products supplier Pilgrim’s Pride Corp. for $590 million in cash and securities, the companies said Monday.

With the purchase, Pilgrim’s Pride of Pittsburg, Texas, said it would become the nation’s second largest chicken company behind Tyson Foods, with annual net sales of about $5 billion.

The sale comes as Omaha, Neb.-based ConAgra gets out of the meatpacking business. The company sold its fresh beef and pork business in September to outside investors for $1.4 billion. It also announced the sale last month of its Bumble Bee canned seafood business to Bumble Bee’s management and private investors for undisclosed terms.

ConAgra’s chicken processing operations had reported weak markets and lower volumes in recent years.

Earnings: Motorola expects to miss second-quarter forecast

Motorola Inc. blamed a glut of cell phones and the spread of illness in Asia as it announced Monday it would miss Wall Street forecasts for earnings and revenue for the second quarter. Its stock fell 2.4 percent.

The Schaumburg, Ill.-based cell phone maker also said it intended to lower its full-year sales and earnings estimates when it announces quarterly results in mid-July.

Its cell phone unit lost sales partly because of the outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome and partly because of excess inventory at Asian phone makers, Motorola executives said.

Further hurting sales was a late-May earthquake that damaged the company’s semiconductor plant at Sendai, Japan, temporarily disrupting manufacturing.