LITTLE ROCK — QUOTE OF THE DAY
“The global business environment
remains challenging, but we expect global growth to continue.”
Alan Mulally,
president and chief executive officer of Ford Motor Co. Article, 1D
Active oil, gas rigs rise 14 to 1,585
HOUSTON - The number of rigs actively exploring for oil and natural gas in the U.S. increased by 14 this week to 1,585.
Houston-based Baker Hughes Inc. said Friday that 982 rigs were exploring for natural gas and 591 for oil. Twelve were listed as miscellaneous. A year ago this week, the rig count stood at 943.
Of the major oil- and gas-producing states, Louisiana gained eight rigs, North Dakota gained four, West Virginia gained three and New Mexico, California, Colorado and Texas each gained one. Pennsylvania lost two rigs. Alaska, Arkansas, Oklahoma and Wyoming were unchanged.
The rig-count tally peaked at 4,530 in 1981, during the height of the oil boom. The industry posted a record low of 488 in 1999.
Iberiabank buys Florida’s Sterling
Iberiabank, which has about 35 branches in Arkansas, acquired Sterling Bank of Lantana, Fla., in a Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.-assisted deal, the Lafayette, La., bank said Friday.
In the purchase, Iberiabank received six branches along the southeast coast of Florida, about $400 million in assets, about $370 million in deposits and almost $250 million in loans.
The purchase is Iberiabank’s fifth FDIC-assisted acquisition.
With the acquisition of Sterling Bank, Iberiabank will have $3 billion in deposits in Florida and rank as the 20thlargest financial institution in the state. Florida will account for about 35 percent of Iberiabank’s total deposits.
Iberiabank had more than $960 million in deposits in Arkansas in June last year, the most recent data available.
Iberiabank’s offices in Arkansas are in central, northeast and Northwest Arkansas.
Including Friday’s purchase, Iberiabank Corp. will have 220 offices in 12 states.
Italy seeks talks on Fiat outsourcing
MILAN - Premier Silvio Berlusconi said Friday that Fiat can build cars where it sees fit, but his government still wants to have a roundtable talk with Italy’s largest manufacturer to discuss the announcement this week that it would produce new minivans in Serbia instead of Italy.
“In a free economy and a free country, an industrial group is free to locate its production where it sees fit,” Berlusconi told reporters at a news conference after meeting with Russian President Dmitri Medvedev. “I hope, however, that this doesn’t happen at the expense of Italy or of Fiat workers.”
Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne said the decision to shift production to Serbia was necessary to guarantee smooth production of future rollouts as the company emerges from a painful industrywide crisis and attempts to build a larger global automaker with Chrysler Group LLC, which Fiat controls.
Labor Minister Maurizio Sacconi said he wants to meet with Fiat to discuss the plans, and the head of the Italian business lobby urged Fiat to avoid unnecessary conflicts.
Food inflation still seen at 1.5%-2.5%
Overall U.S. food prices will rise by 1.5 percent to 2.5 percent this year, unchanged from last month’s estimate, while meat costs will increase more than previously forecast, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said.
Meat will rise 2 percent to 3 percent, a half-percentage point higher than projected in June, reflecting increased wholesale costs that are being passed on to consumers, the USDA said Friday in a report. Price gains for seafood, baked goods and fruits and vegetables were lowered from last month because of the economic slowdown, the department said.
“Although global economies have recovered somewhat from the 2008-09 recession, world economic activity remains below pre-recession levels,” Ephraim Leibtag, a department economist, wrote in an accompanying report.
Food prices fell 0.5 percent last year, the first annual drop since 1961. The Labor Department’s Consumer Price Index released July 16 showed food prices in June were unchanged from May.
Ponzi-scheme peddler gets 30 years
NEW ORLEANS - A Louisiana businessman who pleaded guilty to defrauding about 180 mostly elderly investors out of nearly $20 million in a Ponzi scheme has been sentenced to 30 years in prison.
Twenty-six-year-old Matthew Pizzolato of Tickfaw already had agreed to pay more than $15 million in restitution before he was sentenced Thursday by U.S. District Judge Lance Africk.
Pizzolato pleaded guilty to fraud, money-laundering and witness-tampering charges in April.
Pizzolato had offices in Baton Rouge, Covington, Hammond and Lake Charles and advertised investment services under several company names, including Gulf Region Guaranty Inc.
Prosecutors said he promised high rates of return and claimed investors’ money was protected against losses, but made risky investments they didn’t authorize, gave away millions of dollars to friends and family, and spent much of the money on luxury items for himself.
Union, shippers settle port dispute
Shipping companies and workers at the Port of Montreal agreed to reopen the port today, ending a six-day lockout that closed Canada’s second-biggest terminal.
The port will resume operations at 7 a.m. CDT, the Maritime Employers Association said in a statement. Port workers approved the agreement unanimously Friday, Sibastien Goulet, a spokesman for the Canadian Union of Public Employees, said in a telephone interview.
Longshoremen, who have been without a labor agreement since Dec. 31, 2008, were locked out Sunday. Mediators appointed by Canada’s federal government supervised talks between the parties Thursday in Montreal. The two sides agreed to resume contract talks Monday.
The Port of Montreal is Canada’s second-largest after Vancouver. It handled 1.25 million 20-foot equivalent units, or containers, last year, according to its website. The port also handles liquid bulk including gasoline and jet fuel, and dry bulk such as iron ore and raw sugar. The lockout was costing member companies of the employers association about $770,000 weekly, Gilles Corriveau, a spokesman for the group, has said.
Maritime employers imposed the lockout after union workers began taking extended lunch breaks and refused to work overtime.
Business, Pages 26 on 07/24/2010