NEWS IN BRIEF

2 state banks lead in bids for failures

Two Arkansas publicly held banks have been the most-active bidders in the country for failed banks, SNL Financial of Charlottesville, Va., said Friday.

Bank of the Ozarks of Little Rock has made 61 bids with the federal government for failed banks since 2009, more than any other institution in the country, said SNL, which provides research on financial institutions.

The second most-active bidder in the country was Conway-based Centennial Bank, owned by Home BancShares. Centennial Bank bid on 35 failed banks, 15 more than the third-place bank, Iberia bank of Lafayette, La.

Combined, the two Arkansas banks made 96 offers for failed banks, more than the next five banks combined.

Seven of Bank of the Ozarks’ bids were winning bids, SNL said, while another seven were runners-up.

Centennial Bank bought seven failed banks and finished second on another six transactions.

  • David Smith

LR’s QBOT surpasses 100,000 customers

Little Rock-based company QBOT Corp. said more than 100,000 people had signed up to use its mobile rewards application as of Thursday.

“We’re just kind of tickled to see how it has grown in such a short amount of time,” said Chaney Phillips, the company’s co-founder and president.

The QBOT Mobile Rewards App acts as a loyalty card for consumers when they shop at places such as retailers, restaurants and spas, Phillips said.

The application can be downloaded to iPhones and Android devices and is used by scanning a quick response, or QR, code at businesses such as Larry’s Pizza, Subway and Jiffy Lube.

Customers using the application also earn reward points, which can be used for bigger rewards, such as free drinks, Phillips said.

He said the the company, which employees 12 people, has expanded to markets in 12 states.

  • Jessica Seaman

12 end the week up on state stock index

The Arkansas Index, a price-weighted index that tracks the largest public companies based in the state, jumped 4.60 to 270.74 Friday.

All but two stocks gained ground.

Arkansas Best jumped 7.3 percent in heavy trading.

Deltic Timber was up 3.9 percent on average volume.

P.A.M. Transportation climbed 2.8 percent in average trading.

For the week, 12 stocks rose and four fell.

USA Truck gained 11.3 percent for the week.

Despite its good performance Friday, Arkansas Best was down 8.6 percent for the week.

Volume for the index was 19.1 million shares, compared with average daily volume of 21.7 million shares.

The index was developed by Bloomberg News and the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette with a base value of 100 as of Dec. 30, 1997.

Business, Pages 27 on 05/04/2013

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