State bank assets up 5.3% to $65.4B
Total assets at the 109 banks in Arkansas rose 5.3 percent to $65.4 billion last year compared with 2013, according to statistics from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.
Arvest Bank of Fayetteville continues to be the state's largest bank with $14.9 billion in assets.
Centennial Bank of Conway is next with $7.4 billion in assets, followed by Bank of the Ozarks of Little Rock with $6.8 billion, Simmons First National of Pine Bluff with $4.6 billion and First Security Bank of Searcy with $4.6 billion.
Community State Bank of Bradley was the smallest bank in the state with $19.3 million in assets.
The state's banks earned $810.2 million last year, up 14.5 percent from $707.8 million in 2013.
-- David Smith
Yule-discounter J.C. Penney posts loss
J.C. Penney Co., the department-store chain in the midst of a turnaround, swung to a loss in the fourth quarter, when it increased discounting during the Christmas-shopping season.
The retailer reported a loss of $59 million, or 19 cents a share, compared with a profit of $35 million, or 11 cents, a year ago, according to a statement Thursday from the Plano, Texas-based company. A year earlier, the company had a one-time $270 million noncash tax credit.
Since returning two years ago to the company, Chief Executive Officer Mike Ullman has stabilized losses. For his second act, he's focused on reviving sales growth with a strategy that includes revamped marketing and expanding Disney-themed merchandise. Ullman will retire in August, and Marvin Ellison, a former Home Depot Inc. executive, will succeed him.
The retailer reported a 2.9 percent increase in fourth-quarter revenue. Sales rose to $3.89 billion, from $3.78 billion, a year earlier. Analysts projected $3.87 billion. The chain already had reported same-store sales rose 3.7 percent during November and December.
J.C. Penney shares rose 13 cents to close Thursday at $9.12 before the report was released. The shares fell 9 percent in after-hours trading.
-- Bloomberg News
11 in state honored for safe UPS driving
Eleven UPS drivers from Arkansas have been inducted into the company's Circle of Honor, which recognized individuals who have achieved 25 or more years of accident-free driving.
The list of drivers includes seven -- Michael Green, James Hall Jr., Arthur Hines, Donald House, Steven Meeks, Melvin Moore Jr. and Howard Qualls -- who work at UPS locations in Little Rock. The other four drivers include Jeffrey Broadway of Pocahontas, Calvin Duvall of Russellville, William Goodhue of Fort Smith and David Gordon of Springdale.
There are 7,878 active UPS drivers who are members of the Circle of Honor. Arkansas has 79 active drivers with a combined 2,240 years of accident-free driving. Walter Jordan Jr. of Dermott and Michael Wear of Fort Smith are the state's safest with 36 years of accident-free driving apiece.
-- Robbie Neiswanger
Pizzeria, barber win RadioShack spaces
The neighborhood RadioShack store may soon be a pizza parlor, according to filings in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, Del.
RadioShack Corp., the bankrupt electronics outlet, said Famous Famiglia Pizzeria had bid successfully for one lease, while hair salon chain Great Clips Inc. won another in lease auctions. Level 4 Yoga and BPER Electronic Inc. also had winning bids. The bids are subject to court review at a hearing today.
Bankruptcy Judge Brendan Shannon had set a $20,000 price as the "stalking horse" initial bid for leases, with some exceptions.
At Wednesday's auction, a store lease at Alamo Corners, Texas, went to the BPER retailer for $42,000, court papers show. Famous Famiglia Pizzeria made a top bid for a store at 4020 Broadway in New York of $32,469.
RadioShack, with about 4,000 locations, sought protection from creditors Feb. 5, with an agreement to sell half the stores to a unit of hedge fund Standard General LP, its biggest shareholder. Some of those stores may operate under a co-branding deal with Sprint Corp., the wireless carrier.
The company is also planning to auction the RadioShack name starting at $20 million.
-- Bloomberg News
At 3.80%, 30-year mortgage up a tad
WASHINGTON -- Average long-term U.S. mortgage rates have edged up for a third-straight week while remaining near their historically low levels reached in May 2013.
Mortgage company Freddie Mac said Thursday that the nationwide average for a 30-year mortgage rose to 3.80 percent from 3.76 percent last week.
The rate for the 15-year loan, a popular choice for people who are refinancing, ticked up to 3.07 percent from 3.05 percent last week.
A year ago, the average 30-year mortgage stood at 4.37 percent and the 15-year mortgage at 3.39 percent.
To calculate average mortgage rates, Freddie Mac, the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp., surveys lenders across the country at the beginning of each week. The average doesn't include extra fees, known as points, which most borrowers must pay to get the lowest rates. One point equals 1 percent of the loan amount.
The average fee for a 30-year mortgage was 0.6 point, unchanged from last week. The fee for a 15-year mortgage also remained at 0.6 point.
-- The Associated Press
German brewers win fracking shield
German brewers have won the backing of Chancellor Angela Merkel's government to protect the springs they use from fracking, which they say could taint the purity of their beer.
The government plans to allow federal states to identify locations where fracking can't take place to preserve the quality of the groundwater used by brewers and producers of bottled mineral water, the Environment Ministry said Thursday.
"We need clean water to produce our beer," said Friedrich Duell, president of the Bavarian Brewers Association whose 350-year-old brewery, Franconia, in Krautheim operates two wells. "If our wells aren't protected, our business is threatened."
The country's brewing industry argues that fracking for natural gas could endanger the quality of their beer, which is protected by the world's oldest food-safety regulation still in effect.
The Reinheitsgebot, or "purity law," was drafted in 1516 and states that only malted barley, hops and water may go into beer. Yeast, which had not been discovered at the time, was later added to the list.
-- Bloomberg News
Business on 02/27/2015