Business news in brief

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“The sales pace at the beginning of the month was slower than expected as a lot of places were hit by bad weather.”

Michelle Krebs, Edmunds.com analyst, on December auto sales Article,1D

Invasive insect nears Arkansas borders

An invasive pest that causes loss of more than 15 percent of the soybean crops it comes in contact with has spread to Arkansas’ bordering states.

The University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture Extension Office released a statement Friday about kudzu bugs after they were found on the Arkansas-Mississippi border, at the state line in Tennessee and in western Louisiana.

The fast-moving insects, which are native to India and China, were first identified in Georgia in 2009 and have since spread across the southeastern U.S., said extension entomologist Gus Lorenz.

“We’ve been surveying pretty hard - in Helena, Memphis and southeast Arkansas to check for the kudzu,” Lorenz said. “We’ve checked the soybeans, and so far we haven’t seen them.”

Because the bugs travel in large groups, do not have any natural predators and prefer to eat legumes, they have proved to be problematic for crop growers.

“It’s a nuisance,” Lorenz said. “It’s a problem - they can be injurious to soybeans and can bring up to 20 percent yield loss.”

A yield is the full amount of an agricultural product at the end of the growing season.

Although easily managed through use of pyrethroids, the pesticide also kills beneficial insects, which creates a secondary issue.

“We found that to remove the enemy complex in the field, it also removes the beneficial complex,” he said.

“The natural enemy can’t combat it, and bow worms and loopers come in behind it,” Lorenz said.

Manhattan home sales reach record high

Manhattan, N.Y., apartment sales surged in the fourth quarter, setting a record for year-end transactions, as the prospect of rising interest rates and prices pushed buyers to make deals before purchases became costlier.

Sales of condominiums and co-ops jumped 27 percent from a year earlier to 3,297, the highest fourth-quarter total in 25 years of record-keeping, according to a report Friday from appraiser Miller Samuel Inc. and brokerage Douglas Elliman Real Estate. The previous record was set in 2012, when sellers sought to finish deals before an expected jump in capital-gains taxes.

Buyers are rushing into Manhattan’s market after a jump in mortgage rates since May, heightening competition for properties at a time when supply is dwindling.

The inventory of homes for sale at the end of December fell 12 percent from a year earlier to 4,164, the lowest since Miller Samuel began tracking that data 14 years ago. Demand is pushing values higher, with the median price for a condo reaching a record.

“There’s a concern that home ownership will be more expensive and therefore the time to act apparently is now,” said Jonathan Miller, president of New York-based Miller Samuel. “It’s a combination of rising mortgage rates and concern that prices are going to rise.”

Per-seat revenue jumps 10% for Delta

ATLANTA - Delta Air Lines said a key measure of revenue rose a bigger-than-expected 10 percent in December, and its stock price rose.

Delta had predicted a gain of 7 percent to 9 percent in per-seat revenue. That’s a closely watched revenue measure for airlines because it focuses on the money collected rather than the number of people who flew.

The increase in December revenue was because of the late Thanksgiving, which meant many travelers started their trips in November but returned home in December.

Revenue for November fell compared with a year earlier for the same reason.

Delta also said fuel for the month cost 3 cents less per gallon than it had predicted.

Shares of Atlanta-based Delta Air Lines Inc. rose $1.53, or 5.5 percent, to close Friday at $29.23.

Delta mostly kept a lid on growth last year. According to its traffic report released Friday, traffic and flying capacity both rose 1 percent for the year. Domestic traffic was flat, while international traffic grew 2.6 percent.

Jos. A. Bank cuts anti-takeover threshold

Jos. A. Bank Clothiers Inc. reduced the threshold to trigger its shareholder-rights plan to 10 percent of the stock outstanding from 20 percent as Men’s Wearhouse Inc. seeks to buy the company.

The plan also was amended to include some derivative instruments in the definition of an ownership position that would activate the plan and increase the purchase price for exercising the rights to $250 from $200, Hampstead, Md.-based company said Friday in a filing.

Jos. A. Bank, after making a bid to buy Men’s Wearhouse, is now fending off a takeover attempt by its larger rival. Men’s Wearhouse said last month that it would consider nominating directors to Jos. A. Bank’s board after its $1.54 billion proposal was rejected.

Jos. A. Bank shares fell 0.46 percent to $54.41 Friday in New York. The shares gained 29 percent last year. Houston-based Men’s Wearhouse closed Friday up 0.38 percent at $50.59 and advanced 64 percent in 2013.

  • Bloomberg News

Louisiana plans 1-stop business setup

BATON ROUGE, La. - With the click of a mouse, small businesses soon will be able to set up shop in Louisiana without scurrying among state agencies to file the necessary paperwork.

The Advocate reports GeauxBiz will allow entrepreneurs to create a business name, get a state tax identification number and build an unemployment insurance account via the Internet.

Secretary of State Tom Schedler said Thursday that his goal with GeauxBiz is to improve efficiency, reduce costs and cut out duplications across state government. Startup business tasks involving Schedler’s office, the Louisiana Workforce Commission and the state Department of Revenue now will be on a single website.

Through legislation, the secretary of state’s office increased fees associated with filings and annual reports for corporations, limited liability companies, nonprofits, trade names, trademarks and service marks to pay for the project. Money is needed for the website development, software, servers and other expenses.

GRC of New Orleans is handling the consulting work for the website. It is scheduled to be up and running in 2015.

  • The Associated Press

Business, Pages 28 on 01/04/2014

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