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Monday, November 9, 2009
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BUSINESS TODAY
Business Today for October 22, 2008
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LSU downtown shuttles endangered again
For the second time this year, LSU game-day bus shuttles from downtown Baton Rouge are endangered after a private bus service elected to withdraw the service because it was merely breaking even, a downtown official said. The decision could leave die-hard LSU fans who want to avoid parking hassles in the lurch for this Saturday's game, and it could do the same to two downtown hotels full of Georgia fans. Shortly before the season, CATS -- the city-parish public transit service -- was forced to drop the service because a new federal transit rule won’t allow public service to run special event routes if a private carrier wanted the business. Hotard did, and the New Orleans-based carrier began providing the service for $15 a person round trip rather than the $10 cost CATS ran at a slight deficit. Davis Rhorer, the Downtown Development District executive director, said LSU intervened when Hotard decided to drop out this week . The university convinced the private carrier to keep a route for disabled riders on campus, a route for RV users at a BREC park south of the campus and a route from the Westmoreland Shopping Center. But the most heavily used route -- the downtown shuttle that carried 10,000 fans last season -- would be dropped. Without an 11th-hour solution today, Rhorer said he'd be forced to tell the downtown hotels, Georgia fans using them and LSU fans who enjoyed the downtown shuttle that they would have to find other options for parking and driving to the game. The federal transit law likely would prevent CATS from getting back into the game service because a private carrier is continuing to provide part of the former service. Rhorer said Hotard is looking at getting approval to use CATS buses that may include the downtown shuttle.
Air Products plans new facility
Air Products & Chemicals Inc. said Tuesday it will open a new hydrogen production facility to serve ExxonMobil’s Baton Rouge refinery. Details, including financial terms, were not disclosed. The facility is expected to be online by March 2010. Air Products provides hydrogen to about 50 plants through pipe systems that run from the Houston ship channel to Lake Charles and from Baton Rouge to Norco.
LHC to buy HomeCall
Lafayette-based LHC Group Inc., one of the largest home nursing firms in the country, has signed a deal to acquire HomeCall Inc. and its 12 locations in Maryland. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. However, in Maryland home nursing companies must have a state-issued certificate of need to operate. The HomeCall acquisition gives LHC entree into Maryland and 19 counties. HomeCall had net revenue of $15.6 million for the most recent 12 months. LHC said the deal, which is expected to close in the fourth quarter, is not anticipated to affect earnings this year.
Iberiabank’s third-quarter earnings drop
LAFAYETTE, La. (AP) — Iberiabank Corp., which has banks in Louisiana and Arkansas, posted lower third-quarter earnings that missed Wall Street forecasts. For the July-through-September period, Iberiabank had a profit of $8.8 million, or 68 cents per share, compared with year-ago earnings in the third quarter of $12.1 million, or 94 cents per share. Return on average assets fell to 66 cents per $100 from $1.01 per $100. Iberiabank said it took a one-time charge of 9 cents per share stemming from its acquisition of ANB Financial in northwestern Arkansas. Without that charge, the company would have earned 77 cents per share. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters had forecast per-share earnings of 79 cents for the latest quarter. Those estimates typically do not include one-time items. Iberiabank said its nonperforming assets — the product of troubled loans — totaled $43 million on Sept. 30, up $2 million from the previous quarter. For the latest quarter, Iberiabank recorded a loan loss provision of $2.1 million, up 39 percent from the second quarter. The results were announced after financial markets closed Tuesday. In Wednesday trading, Iberiabank shares were down $1.48, or 3.1 percent, at $47.02. The shares have traded in a 52-week range of $37.44 to $70.66.
Hancock earnings fall 10 percent
GULFPORT, Miss. (AP) — Gulf Coast banker Hancock Holding Co. said Tuesday that its third-quarter earnings fell 9.8 percent and missed analysts’ forecasts. For the July-through-September period, Hancock earned $16 million, or 50 cents per share, compared with year-ago earnings in the third quarter of $17.7 million, or 55 cents a share. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters had forecast per-share earnings, on average, of 66 cents for the latest quarter. Hancock said the earnings decrease was due primarily to a 30 percent annualized increase in loans and the resulting set-aside of a reserve for loan losses. During the third quarter, the company said it recorded an $8.1 million provision for loan losses. Combined with net charge-offs of $4.2 million, Hancock had a $3.9 million increase in its allowance for loan losses. Hancock’s total loans stood at $3.95 billion, an increase of $483 million, or 13.9 percent from the second quarter of 2007, the company said.
Ground broken on Louisiana coal plant
ARMISTEAD (AP) — Groundbreaking ceremonies were held Tuesday for a new coal-fired plant that will operate in Red River Parish. ADA-ES Inc. says its plant, which will be located next to a lignite coal mine near Armistead, is expected to be North Americas largest activated carbon production facility. Activated carbon, which is derived from coal, is used to help coal-fired power plants reduce mercury emissions. Gov. Bobby Jindal’s office says the plant, which is expected to go online in 2010, is expected to employ 50 people at jobs averaging $50,000 to $65,000 a year. ADA-ES will receive a $125,000 tax credit and $2 million sales tax rebate from the state, as well as a 10-year industrial property tax exemption.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL NEWS
FINANCIAL MELTDOWN: A barrage of poor earnings from major corporations revived worries of a global recession and showed the depth of the financial crisis the Bush administration is trying to tackle. World leaders will gather in Washington on Nov. 15 to discuss the global economic crisis. A senior administration official said Wednesday that the forum will be the first in a series of international meetings to discuss what economists predict could be a long and deep downturn.
--Wachovia Corp. reports a staggering $24 billion loss as it took a goodwill impairment charge of nearly $19 billion ahead of its acquisition by Wells Fargo & Co. --ConocoPhillips, the third-largest U.S. oil company, left Wall Street expectations in the dust, reporting says third-quarter profit rose 41 percent and revenues soaring nearly 52 percent. --McDonald’s Corp. says a big jump in sales overseas and in the U.S. boosted its third quarter profit by 11 percent, handily beating Wall Street’s expectations. McDonald’s sales and profits have held up well so far this year even as consumers cut back on eating out. --Boeing Co. says its third-quarter profit tumbled about 38 percent as a Machinists’ strike and supplier production problems hurt the airplane maker. --General Dynamics said that third quarter earnings were up 16 percent on higher sales in its shipbuilding unit and information technology business, topping Wall Street’s earnings forecast. --Northrop Grumman Corp. says its third-quarter profit rose 4.7 percent, led by higher sales in its electronics business. The company says it is raising its 2008 earnings forecast. --AT&T Inc. said earnings rose 5.5 percent in the third quarter, but missed analyst expectations in part because of strong sales of iPhones, which the carrier subsidizes. WALL STREET: Wall Street tumbled again as investors again shifted their focus away from improving credit markets and fixated on worrisome corporate earnings. The major indexes fell more than 1 percent, including the Dow Jones industrial average, which fell 350 points. OIL PRICES: Oil prices fell below $69 a barrel as investors shrug off a looming OPEC production cut after company forecasts suggested the U.S. may be headed for a severe economic slowdown that would crimp demand for crude. DRUG COMPANIES: Merck & Co. is slashing 7,200 jobs as part of a new restructuring program that comes as its third-quarter profit plunged 28 percent, due to flat sales and a large charge. GlaxoSmithKline posts better-than-expected results, helped by the weak British pound. Drug developer Wyeth reports a slight drop in profit as it moves along with a restructuring program in the wake of tougher generic competition.
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