Jimmy Dean moves to lunch and dinner
NEW YORK -- Breakfast staple Jimmy Dean, the brand started by the late country singer of the same name, is hoping its new bowls and sandwiches can find places on lunch and dinner tables.
Jimmy Dean, owned by Hillshire Brands, is rolling out 16 microwavable products, including a pulled pork sandwich and grilled steak bowl that cost around $3 each.
Hillshire's expansion into products that aren't made entirely out of meat has been critical in helping fatten the company's profit margins. The problem is that there's little Hillshire can do to manage rising costs to make products such as hot dogs, sausages and lunch meats.
In an earning call with analysts and investors last summer, CEO Sean Connolly even cited Jimmy Dean breakfast sandwiches as an example of how the company is managing cost pressures, noting that "only a fraction of the weight of the product is meat."
Jimmy Dean's sales have grown over the years, aided by the introduction of various breakfast bowls and sandwiches. Last year, sales of Jimmy Dean's frozen foods were $658.3 million, up 18 percent from 2011, according to market researcher Euromonitor International.
-- The Associated Press
BlackBerry buys anti-spying tech firm
TORONTO -- BlackBerry, pushing further into security services, agreed to buy Secusmart GmbH, a provider of anti-eavesdropping technology whose clients include German officials such as Chancellor Angela Merkel.
Secusmart, a Dusseldorf, Germany-based company that already had a partnership with BlackBerry, makes voice and data encryption for mobile phones. Financial terms weren't disclosed. The acquisition is BlackBerry's first since the hiring last November of CEO John Chen, who vowed to cut losses by focusing on services to corporations and governments.
Now, having stabilized the Waterloo, Ontario-based company, Chen said Monday that he's laying the groundwork for hiring and sales growth. With Secusmart, BlackBerry aims to capitalize on demand for spy-proofing technology in the wake of revelations about U.S. government surveillance tactics, including allegations that Merkel's mobile phone was tapped.
The deal is still subject to regulatory approval. Chen said he's confident Germany will approve the sale, especially since the government already uses BlackBerry phones and software.
-- Bloomberg News
Burger King cuts ties with China vendor
Burger King Worldwide Inc., reacting to a government investigation in China, cut ties with OSI Group LLC in the country after the supplier's Shanghai operation was accused of changing the expiration dates on meat.
Burger King's Chinese division investigated the matter and decided it was safer to stop buying any products from OSI's facilities throughout the country, Alix Salyers, a spokesman for the Miami-based company, said in an email.
"This decision may impact the availability of some of our products in China on a temporary basis, but we are working to return supplies to normal levels as soon as possible," Salyers said. "We apologize to all of our guests and thank you for your understanding."
Burger King's move is the latest fallout from a scandal that erupted last week after a local TV station showed OSI workers repackaging chicken and beef past their sell-by dates. The report spawned a government investigation and led OSI, known locally as Husi, to recall products from the plant.
Yum! Brands Inc., the owner of Pizza Hut and KFC, also severed its relationship with OSI over the incident. McDonald's Corp., meanwhile, stuck by the meat supplier, which has been its partner since the 1950s.
-- Bloomberg News
BP's 2nd-quarter profit rises 34 percent
LONDON -- BP PLC, Europe's third-largest oil company by market value, reported a 34 percent increase in second-quarter profit while warning that increasing sanctions against Russia could "adversely impact" business.
Earnings adjusted for one-time items and inventory changes rose to $3.6 billion from $2.7 billion a year earlier, the London-based company said Tuesday in a statement. That beat the $3.4 billion average estimate of 13 analysts in a Bloomberg News survey. The quarterly dividend was unchanged from the previous three months at 9.75 cents a share.
BP, with a 20 percent stake in OAO Rosneft, holds the single-biggest foreign investment in Russia and stands to lose the most from further sanctions in response to the country's annexation of Crimea.
BP reported $1 billion underlying net income from Rosneft in the quarter compared with $218 million a year earlier.
-- Bloomberg News
Shreveport Amtrak benefit study begins
SHREVEPORT -- A 12-month study is finally underway to examine the feasibility of re-establishing Amtrak Passenger Rail Service from Shreveport-Bossier City to Vicksburg, Miss.
Kent Rodgers, North Louisiana Council of Governments executive director, told The Times the study will look at the condition of existing railroad tracks between the cities, potential stops, hours of operation and the cost to operate the service.
Rodgers contends that the addition of passenger rail service through the north Louisiana corridor can have a positive effect on economic development, as well as offer residents an alternative method of transportation.
The Louisiana study is one of three studies that will look at the extension of passenger rail service from the Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan area to Meridian, Miss., that would allow passengers access to the Amtrak route connecting New Orleans to the East Coast.
-- The Associated Press
Business on 07/30/2014