Hannaford parent company trims executive ranks to 50

Hannaford Supermarkets’ parent company, Delhaize America, said it has cut its executive ranks by 25 percent, to 50 company officers nationally.

The cut was part of “efforts to reduce general and administrative costs and better serve customers,” said Delhaize America. The cuts were announced to employees on Friday.

Scarborough-based Hannaford would not confirm any names or positions that were cut locally.

Delhaize America has more than 1,500 stores along the East Coast, including 181 Hannaford stores. Other chains owned by Delhaize America are Bottom Dollar Food, Food Lion, Harveys, Reid’s and Sweetbay.

Of the 50 corporate executives whose positions were named this week, some work for individual chains and others do support work for all the chains owned by Delhaize America, the company said.

The cutbacks come a month after Delhaize America announced a management shake-up. Brad Wise was named president of Hannaford, replacing Beth Newlands Campbell, who will become president of North Carolina-based Food Lion and Harveys.

The management changes were made by Roland Smith, who was named CEO of Delhaize America last year. The company is part of Delhaize Group, based in Brussels.

The cost-cutting by Delhaize America come amid a series of changes in the Maine grocery market.

On Thursday, the parent of Shaw’s agreed to be acquired by an investor group led by Cerberus Capital Management. Shaw’s has 22 locations in Maine. Later this year, the discount grocer Market Basket is expected to open in Biddeford.

Oxford Networks reducing work force by less than 10%

Oxford Networks said Friday that it is cutting 12 jobs, less than 10 percent of its work force, as it restructures from a traditional telephone company to a full-service technology services company.

Oxford Networks said the cuts were made across the company and not clustered in any particular department. The affected employees will receive severance packages and outplacement services.

The company now has 134 employees. It has a fiber-optic network running from Bangor to Boston and a high-security data center in Brunswick. The company provides data center services, information technology services and voice and Internet services.

Major U.S. stock indexes end week with slight gains

Stocks gained for a second straight week as company earnings reports started to come in, keeping the Standard and Poor’s 500 within a fraction of its highest level in five years.

The S&P 500 was little changed Friday, and gained five points in the week to close at 1,472.05. The index is a fraction below its close of 1,472.12 Thursday, its highest level since December 2007.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 17.21 points to 13,488.43. The Nasdaq composite index rose 3.88 to 3,125.63. For the week, the Dow rose 53 and the Nasdaq rose 24.

But no pattern has emerged as yet from the fourth-quarter reports .

— From staff and news services