QUOTE OF THE DAY
“The consumer is in a cautious, wait-and-see mode, with geopolitical uncertainties in the news lately as well as the looming budget battle.”
Stephen Stanley, Pierpont Securities LLC chief economist Article, 1D
Seminars focus on attracting residents
Community leaders and others can learn strategies for recruiting new residents, including young families and alumni, at a series of Web seminars on Oct. 2, Oct. 23 and Nov. 13.
The Web seminars, to be held from noon to 1 p.m., can be seen for free at the Brewer-Hegeman Conference Center at the University of Central Arkansas in Conway;
the Delta Technology Education Center in Dumas; the Arkansas State University Delta Center for Economic Development in Jonesboro; and at the University of Arkansas Cooperative Extension Service headquarters at 2301 S. University Ave. in Little Rock.
The Oct. 2 Web seminar will focus on how to analyze community assets and audiences. The Oct. 23 session will deal with community branding. The Nov. 13 event will examine techniques to connect with those who are returning to a community.
The Web seminars are produced by the Heartland Center for Leadership Development and the Center for Rural Entrepreneurship in Lincoln, Neb.
Those interested in attending the free sessions are being asked to RSVP via email to [email protected] for Little Rock; [email protected] for Conway; [email protected] for Jonesboro; and [email protected] for Dumas.
Participants may also sign up to see the Web seminar on their own at a cost of $189, by registering at www.heartlandcenter.info/.
More information is available by contacting Mark Peterson at (501) 671-2253 or at [email protected].
Mississippi gets German crankshaft plant
TUNICA - A German powertrain-maker will build its first American factory in Tunica, with plans to invest $140 million and hire 300 people over five years.
Feuer Powertrain Gmbh & Co. KG said it hopes to start production by early 2015 at the 156,600-square-foot plant it will build. Feuer will make forged crankshafts for cars, trucks and heavy equipment.
“After an intensive site selection process, we are convinced that our decision to locate our first overseas manufacturing facility in Tunica, Mississippi, is the right move,” Chief Executive Officer Bernd Gulden said in a statement.
Feuer was founded in 2002 by Dieter Feuer, who is the majority owner of the firm. The company said that its customers include General Motors Co., Ford Motor Co., Chrysler Group, Ferrari, Jaguar, Volkswagen AG, BMW AG and Cummins Inc. Its crankshafts are used in cars with diesel engines as well as trucks, agricultural equipment and generators.
The company runs five factories at its headquarters in Nordhausen, Germany. Feuer produces about 1 million crankshafts a year.
Mississippi has provided assistance worth at least $26.5 million, not counting the value of tax breaks.
After mishaps, Carnival’s slump persists
NEW YORK - Lingering images of passengers stranded at sea for days as toilets backed up and air conditioners failed has been enough to keep vacationers away from Carnival Cruise Lines, even as the company continues to discount sailings.
The cruise industry has mostly rebounded from the economic downturn, but Carnival Corp.’s namesake brand can’t seem to shake a spate of bad publicity from earlier this year when three ships suffered mechanical problems and fires.
That, along with ongoing geopolitical fears in the eastern Mediterranean, is why Carnival said Tuesday that bookings for the next three quarters are below last year’s pace, even with lower pricing. The world’s largest cruise company now expects revenue to drop 3 percent in 2013, worse than its previous forecast. Shares fell $2.86, or 7.7 percent, to close Tuesday at $34.54.
Carnival has struggled to restore passengers’ confidence after the February breakdown of the Carnival Triumph, which stranded passengers for five days in the Gulf of Mexico. That was quickly followed by two other instances of ships having to be towed back to port.
The Miami-based company reported a $934 million profit for the June-August quarter, but that was still down 30 percent from the same quarter last year.
Earnings totaled $1.20 per share, down from $1.71 last year. Revenue for the quarter rose less than 1 percent to $4.73 billion.
- The Associated Press
$9.4 billion deal struck for Tokyo Electron
Applied Materials Inc., the largest chipmaking-equipment supplier, agreed to acquire Tokyo Electron Ltd. for $9.39 billion in stock in the largest deal for a Japanese company from outside the country in six years.
Gary Dickerson, who became chief executive officer of Applied Materials on Sept. 1, will be CEO of the combined manufacturer, the companies said in a statement Tuesday.
Applied Materials shareholders will own 68 percent of the new entity.
Dickerson, who replaced Mike Splinter as CEO, is moving to consolidate the industry amid slowing demand for equipment used to prepare silicon during the early stages of chip fabrication. Applied Materials in August forecast revenue that missed analysts’ estimates for the second straight quarter.
Manufacturers are consolidating as production shifts toward semiconductors for mobile phones and tablet computers that require more advanced equipment.
NYSE reportedly in lead for Twitter IPO
Twitter Inc., the microblogging service that plans an initial public offering, is leaning toward listing its shares on the New York Stock Exchange, a person with knowledge of the matter said.
A final decision hasn’t yet been made, said the person, who asked not to be identified because the deliberations are private.
Twitter’s planned IPO has set off a race for the high profile deal, and nabbing the startup’s IPO would help the New York Stock Exchange solidify its allure among young technology companies after years of playing catch-up with the Nasdaq Stock Market.
Twitter said Sept. 12 that it has submitted paperwork to go public, without giving details of the time frame or financials of the offering.
- Bloomberg News
Business, Pages 26 on 09/25/2013