LITTLE ROCK — St. Vincent scores funding for system
St. Vincent Health System Foundation said Tuesday that it has received a $1 million gift that was used to buy the da Vinci Surgical System at the St. Vincent Urology Center of Excellence at St. Vincent Infirmary Medical Center.
The gift, made by North Little Rock-based Tenenbaum Foundation this month, is the first acquisition of robotics for the Tenenbaum Robotics Suite, which is to open at the urology center Nov. 16.
"As a prostate cancer survivor, I know firsthand that the da Vinci System is an amazing tool. It reduces the size of the surgical incision, the length of stay, postoperative pain, risk of infection and last but not least, many of the unwanted side effects of a prostatectomy," said Harold Tenenbaum, a foundation trustee.
3rd-quarter profits
short for Whirlpool GRAND RAPIDS, Mich.
- Household appliance maker Whirlpool Corp. said Tuesday that its third-quarter earnings rose 50 percent on strong international growth and cost controls, but sales were hurt by a weak U.S.
market and profits came in shy of Wall Street expectations.
Whirlpool dropped $4.25, or 4.8 percent, to close at $83.74 in New York Stock Exchange composite trading, the biggest decline since Sept. 25. The shares have risen less than 1 percent this year.
About 2,900 employees make trash compactors, ice makers and side-by-side refrigerators at Whirlpool's plant in Fort Smith.
Net income for the quarter that ended Sept. 30 rose to $175 million, or $2.20 per share, from $117 million, or $1.47 per share, a year ago.
Excluding discontinued operations, the company earned $134 million, or $1.68 per share, in the 2006 period.
Revenue totaled $4.84 billion, flat with 2006 levels, hurt by a weak U.S. market.
The company now expects 2007 U.S. industry unit shipments to fall about 4 percent.
Arkansas 20 down
as U.S. stocks rise
The Arkansas 20, a priceweighted index that tracks public companies based in the state, dropped 0.54 to 212.71 Tuesday.
"U.S. stocks rose for a second day after betterthan-expected earnings from Apple and American Express reduced concerns that the housing slump has depressed consumer spending," said Chris Harkins, senior vice president and managing director of Delta Trust Investments Inc. in Little Rock.
"The Arkansas 20 moved in an opposite direction, closing lower as 15 stocks declined and only five finished higher."
Wal-Mart dropped 3 percent on heavy volume after announcing it will slow its pace of adding stores in the next few years, Harkins said.
J.B. Hunt rallied more than 4 percent on above-average volume, Harkins said.
The index was developed by Bloomberg News and the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette with a base value of 100 as of Dec. 30, 1997.
Business, Pages 29 on 10/24/2007