LITTLE ROCK — QUOTE OF THE DAY
“I am convinced that the existence of too big-to-fail financial institutions poses the greatest risk to the U.S. economy.”
Thomas Hoenig
Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City President Article, 1D2 J.B. Hunt ex-executives sell shares
Former executives of transportation provider J.B. Hunt Transport Services Inc. last week sold $11.8 million and $5 million worth of company stock, respectively, in two transactions.
Wayne Garrison, a former president, chief executive officer and chairman, sold 274,601 shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services Inc. stock for $42.85 a share for a total of $11.8 million on Feb. 17, according to a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission document filed Tuesday. The director’s holdings are more than 4.48 million shares after the sale.
Johnelle Hunt, a philanthropist and entrepreneur in Northwest Arkansas, gave a $5 million gift of company stock, according to SEC documents filed Tuesday. The filing does not say who received the gift.
The widow of J.B. Hunt, founder of the Lowell-based trucking firm, disposed of 115,000 shares at $43.39 per share in a transaction dated Feb. 16. The sale was executed through J.B. Hunt LLC, a stock holding company set up for the former corporate secretary and treasurer.
Hunt’s direct and indirect stock holdings are at more than 21 million shares after the transaction.
Jacksonville plant’s last day July 30
The last day of operation for the Graphic Packaging International Inc. plant in Jacksonville will be July 30, Mayor Gary Fletcher said Wednesday.
The plant has 250 full-time employees, according to the Jacksonville Chamber of Commerce.
The company released a statement Tuesday that the work will be moved to other plants in the U.S..
The release doesn’t specify which plants, and phone calls to Graphic Packaging headquarters in Georgia and the Jacksonville offices were not returned.
Fletcher said that though he is disappointed with the closing, now is not the time to dwell on it.
“We’ve got to get these people back to work,” Fletcher said, adding that the shutdown also affects surrounding communities such as Sherwood and Cabot.
Fletcher said his office is working vigorously to attract more industrial business to the city.
Murphy starts up natural-gas plant
Murphy Oil Corp. announced Wednesday that its natural-gas-processing facility in British Columbia is up and running.
The Tupper West facility has capacity of 180 million cubic feet of natural gas per day, though it will initially produce about 85 million cubic feet per day, according to a news release.
The facility was first authorized by Murphy’s board in 2009, said Barry Jeffery, a spokesman for the El Dorado based company. Murphy’s Tupper Main natural-gas facility, which is about 24 miles from the new plant, began production in December 2008.
David Wood, Murphy’s president and chief executive, said in a news release that the new facility is opening ahead of schedule.
“Ramp-up of this low-cost Montney gas play adds to our growing production profile and is a key component of our North American resource portfolio,” he said in the release.
Tyson alters credit facility with bank
Tyson Foods Inc. of Springdale said Wednesday that it has amended its $1 billion credit facility with JPMorgan Chase Bank N.A. to reduce its interest expense.
The new credit facility includes a provision that allows liens on collateral to be released when the company attains investment-grade corporate credit ratings from either Moody’s Investors Service Inc. or Standard & Poor’s Ratings Service, plus a stable outlook or better from the other agency.
Subject to achieving certain conditions, the credit facility is to terminate Feb. 23, 2016. The company said that as of Wednesday it had no borrowings against the existing credit facility and none are expected as the amended facility takes effect.
Tyson said the new arrangement will make interest expense in the current fiscal year $245 million. “This amended credit facility, and particularly the collateral release provision, is another reflection of the company’s improved financial performance since the 2009 fiscal year,” Dennis Leatherby, executive vice president and chief financial officer, said in a statement.
Trucking tons level highest since ’08
The American Trucking Association on Wednesday said seasonally adjusted tonnage in January grew 8 percent in the year-over-year comparison.
The For-Hire Truck Tonnage Index level was 117.1 - the highest level since January 2008, the Arlington, Va.-based trade group said in a news release.
Bob Costello, the American Trucking Association’s chief economist, in a statement said the first half of 2011 is expected to reflect a recovering economy.
“The latest tonnage numbers indicate that the economy is growing at a good clip in early 2011,” Costello said in the news release. The only threat to future growth is the recent run-up in oil prices, which could dampen consumer spending, he added.
Trucking is a barometer of the U.S. economy, since nearly 68 percent of tonnage is carried by that mode of transportation. Trucks hauled 8.8 billion tons of freight in 2009.
S. Korea faults Deutsche Bank units
SEOUL, South Korea - Deutsche Bank employees engaged in price manipulation and unfair trading that led to a sudden plunge in Seoul’s benchmark stock index last year, South Korean financial regulators said Wednesday.
Authorities had been investigating two Asian units of Deutsche Bank AG over a 2.7 percent decline in the Korea Composite Stock Price Index during the final minutes of trading Nov. 11.
In a joint statement, the Financial Services Commission and Financial Supervisory Service said they would ask South Korean prosecutors to investigate five employees of various Deutsche Bank units in Hong Kong, New York and Seoul over the findings. The names of the employees were not released.
The regulators also said they would suspend some securities and exchange-traded-derivatives operations by Deutsche Securities Korea, the South Korean unit, for six months from April 1. The local unit was also to be referred to prosecutors.
Business, Pages 28 on 02/24/2011