Murphy USA reports
1Q profit of $39.3M
Murphy USA, the El Dorado-based retail fuel and convenience store chain, posted a $39.3 million profit in the first quarter of 2018, with most of it brought on by a $35 million after-tax settlement from the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill, the company said.
The profit, on total revenue of $3.2 billion, amounted to $1.16 per share, slightly better than analysts' projections.
The company reported a net loss of $3 million for the same quarter a year ago.
The company reported a 1 percent decrease in total gallons of fuel sold and a 4 percent decline in same-store fuel sales, and attributed the decline to higher oil prices. Merchandise sales grew 3 percent in the quarter, the company said.
Murphy USA opened two retail locations in the quarter. It now has 1,448 stores.
The company also repurchased nearly 930,000 shares of common stock, spending $71.7 million, or an average price of $77.18 a share.
-- Stephen Steed
Agency settles with
hires for '16 cleanup
A staffing agency in Leachville in Mississippi County paid $708,922 this week to more than 1,000 people who weren't adequately reimbursed for cleanup and recovery work in Louisiana after the 2016 flooding.
An investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division found that Arkansas-based Wallace, Rush, Schmidt Inc. failed to pay 1,393 workers hired to assist with the cleanup after summer rains flooded homes in Baton Rouge and nearby parishes.
Investigators determined that cleanup crew supervisors had "limited access to technology," and therefore could not submit employee time sheets on time, which left "many workers unpaid for weeks," according to the Department of Labor.
By failing to keep accurate employee records, the agency violated overtime, minimum wage and record-keeping provisions in the Fair Labor Standards Act, the Department of Labor said.
-- Nathan Owens
Index ticks up 2.68
to close at 400.56
The Arkansas Index, a price-weighted index that tracks the largest public companies based in the state, rose 2.68 to 400.56 Wednesday.
"The S&P 500 Index retreated with consumer staples and telecommunications stocks underperforming following release of the May Federal Open Market Committee statement, which left interest rates unchanged, and noted inflation is expected to run near the committee's 2 percent target," said Leon Lants, managing director at Stephens Inc. in Little Rock.
The index was developed by Bloomberg News and the Democrat-Gazette with a base value of 100 as of Dec. 30, 1997.
Business on 05/03/2018