LITTLE ROCK — QUOTE OF THE DAY
“We believe direct foreign investment will grow markets in India as it has in China, Brazil and many other development economies.”
Mark Toner, U.S. State Department spokesman Article,1D
J.B. Hunt to pay bigger dividend early
LOWELL - J.B. Hunt Transport Services Inc. is increasing its quarterly dividend and paying it early to take advantage of current low tax rates for its investors.
The transportation company said it will pay a dividend of 15 cents per share on Dec. 28. That is up from its most recent dividend of 14 cents per share. It would typically pay this quarterly dividend in February.
J.B. Hunt is the latest company to move up its quarterly payout or issue a special end-of-year payment to protect investors from potentially having to pay higher taxes on dividend income starting in January.
Since 2003, investors have paid a maximum 15 percent on dividend income. But that historically low rate will expire in January unless Congress and President Barack Obama reach a compromise on taxes and government spending. As it stands, dividends will be taxed as ordinary income in 2013, the same as wages, so rates will go up depending on which income bracket a taxpayer is in. For the highest earners, the dividend rate would jump to 43.4 percent.
J.B. Hunt said it does not expect to declare or pay a quarterly dividend in the first quarter of 2013 and will resume its normal quarterly dividend analysis at its board meeting in April.
Shares of the Lowell-based company fell 24 cents to $58.47 on Friday. They are near the upper end of the 52-week range of $42.61 to $61.18.
- The Associated Press
Simmons to shut, retool plant in ’13
Simmons Pet Food said this week that it is temporarily closing its wet pet food plant in Siloam Springs. The company said it intends to complete canned production there in spring 2013, retool the facility during the summer and begin producing a new product in early fall.
Simmons said it is helping employees find work in other Simmons facilities during the transition period.
Simmons does not disclose employment figures for its plants individually, spokesman Kimmie Provost said.
The company said in a statement that it is expanding capacity at its facility in Emporia, Kan., and adding volume to facilities in New Jersey and Toronto.
In June 2011, Simmons said 223 jobs were being eliminated at its Siloam Springs slaughtering plant, with the remaining production shifted to its Decatur facility. At that time, the company said it had 1,423 employees at Siloam Springs in hatchery, pet-food cannery and slaughtering.
- Steve Painter
Sparks gets Level III trauma rating
Sparks Regional Medical Center in Fort Smith has been designated a Level III trauma center, meaning the hospital is equipped to provide treatment for most traumatic injuries, the hospital announced this week.
The Arkansas Department of Health evaluates staffing and other issues to ensure a hospital can handle trauma patients.
Sparks is among 58 hospitals with trauma-center designations within the state. Those range from Level I, with the most sophisticated of care, to Level IV. Sparks includes a 492-bed acute care center.
Injury is the top cause of death for Arkansans from ages 1 to 44, according to the department.
- Lisa Hammersly
Active oil, gas rigs fall by 11 to 1,800
HOUSTON - The number of rigs actively exploring for oil and natural gas in the U.S. fell this week by 11 to 1,800.
Houston-based oilfield services company Baker Hughes Inc. reported Friday that 1,382 were exploring for oil and 417 were searching for gas. One was listed as miscellaneous. A year ago, Baker Hughes counted 1,987 rigs.
Of the major oil- and gas-producing states, Arkansas, Colorado and Pennsylvania each gained one rig.
Alaska lost four rigs, while North Dakota dropped by three.
New Mexico and Texas each decreased by two rigs. Louisiana dropped one rig. California, Oklahoma, West Virginia and Wyoming were unchanged.
The rig count peaked at 4,530 in 1981 and bottomed at 488 in 1999.
- The Associated Press
Canadian jobs up by 59,300 last month
TORONTO - Canada added a surprisingly strong 59,300 gain in jobs in November, dropping the country’s unemployment rate by 0.2 point to 7.2 percent - the lowest since June, Statistics Canada said Friday.
Almost all of the 59,300 new jobs were full time and in the private sector, the reporting agency said.
Economists had expected a smaller increase of about 10,000 jobs, after a minimal 1,800 gain in October, as the economy is weathering considerable headwinds from abroad, notably Europe, the United States and China.
In the third quarter, Canada posted the weakest quarter of growth - 0.6 percent - in more than a year and analysts expect only a modest bounce back during the fourth quarter.
Statistics Canada says with November’s report, employment gains in Canada have reached 294,000 over the past 12 months, mostly full-time.
- The Associated Press
Weak exports to sap Asia’s growth
MANILA, Philippines - Economic growth throughout much of Asia next year will continue to be weighed down by weak export demand from major industrial economies and China, the Asian Development Bank said Friday.
The Manila-based lending institution said Asia’s economies, excluding Japan, will grow 6 percent this year and 6.6 percent in 2013. Both figures are 0.1 percentage point lower than anticipated in October.
“Enduring debt problems and economic weakness in Europe and the looming ‘fiscal cliff’ in the United States remain very real threats to developing Asia next year,” Asian Development Bank Chief Economist Changyong Rhee said.
The fiscal cliff is a combination of automatic spending cuts and tax increases that are set to go into effect in January unless Congress acts before then.
Slower-than-expected growth in India, South Korea, Hong Kong and Taiwan and the two largest Central Asian economies - Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan - slightly outweigh the more rapid expansion in some other economies in the region, such as the Philippines and Malaysia.
The bank said China’s rebound in industrial production means its economy should expand as anticipated - 7.7 percent in 2012 and 8.1 percent in 2013.
Weak external demand from major industrial nations and China continues to weigh down East Asia. The bank revised growth prospects for the region from 6.5 percent to 6.4 percent in 2012, and from 7.1 percent to 7 percent in 2013.
- The Associated Press
Business, Pages 30 on 12/08/2012