LITTLE ROCK — QUOTE OF THE DAY
“Chicago could very well be a model for how Wal-Mart expands into urban areas - a multiformat, localized approach that leverages Wal-Mart’s growing community-relations skills to capture urban market share.”
Leon Nicholas,
a director at consulting firm Kantar Retail in Cambridge, Mass.
Article, 1D
Picky on acquisitions, Kroger says
CINCINNATI - The nation’s largest grocer, Kroger Co., is interested in getting bigger - but not in buying struggling competitors, Chief Executive Officer David B. Dillon said Thursday.
Dillon said the company sees “plenty of growth opportunities” and has been considering acquisitions. But it is steering away from businesses that are marked down because they fell behind as the recession battered industry profits.
“We look at lots of things, but we’re not interested in becoming someone’s turnaround artist,” Dillon said in an interview after the annual shareholders meeting. “We run good stores and are good at running good stores, and we don’t want to buy somebody else’s problem.”
Dillon said Kroger is most likely to add stores in or near its current markets in 31 states. The company owns Ralphs, Dillons, QFC and other chains, along with Kroger; only Wal-Mart Stores Inc. sells more groceries in the U.S.
“We’re very highly selective,” Dillon said. “Generally the ones we’ve looked at more often are the ones in our existing markets and adjacent markets.”
Being in competition with the world’s largest retailer doesn’t pressure Kroger to move into new markets, he said.
“Our acquisition and expansion plans are really designed around what we think works for Kroger; it’s not a reaction to, say, Wal-Mart being international,” he said.
Kroger reported last week that profits fell 14 percent in the first quarter, while sales rose 9 percent. Dillon told shareholders that Kroger has been increasing market share and its base of loyal customers and fared better than most competitors during the recession.
Spain probing 3,000 Swiss accounts
MADRID - Spain says it is investigating some 3,000 accounts held by Spaniards at HSBC bank in Switzerland for possible tax fraud that news reports claim total more than $7.36 billion.
Finance Minister Elena Salgado said the owners of the accounts have been notified and asked to clarify whether they have declared the money in the accounts.
Daily newspaper El Pais reported the accounts are in the Swiss branch of the bank HSBC and that French authorities tipped Spain off to their existence.
Salgado declined Thursday to give details but said the investigation was part of Spain’s campaign to combat tax fraud.
HSBC spokesman Pascal Dubey said they had not received any official confirmation of the investigation from Spain.
GE to add $10 billion for efficiency
FAIRFIELD, Conn. - General Electric Corp. said Thursday that its plan to spend $5 billion on energy efficient and environmentally oriented projects has been met a year ahead of schedule.
It also said it is committed to spend an additional $10 billion by 2015.
General Electric Corp., based in Fairfield, Conn., said in its annual report that its investment in its “ecomagination” program is paying off.
GE said revenue from these products and services increased 6 percent to $18 billion in 2009 and that it has reduced emissions of greenhouse gases many scientists blame for global warming. The company’s revenue totaled $156.8 billion last year.
“We are doubling down to drive even faster impact and to deliver our contribution to a 21st century energy transformation,” Jeffrey Immelt, GE’s chairman and CEO, and Steven Fludder, vice president of ecomagination, said in the report.
The company said revenue from these products and services will grow at twice the rate of total company revenue in the next five years.
The company said its $5 billion investment has generated revenue of $70 billion. GE’s portfolio of products from the effort is now up to 90, ranging from aircraft engines, locomotives and wind turbines to energy-efficient home-improvement loans.
China, Taiwan wrap up trade pact
TAIPEI, Taiwan - Negotiators from China and Taiwan completed work Thursday on a trade agreement that will raise ties between the former antagonists to their highest level since they split amid civil war in 1949.
The Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement, to be signed next week in the Chinese city of Chongqing, is intended to give Taiwanese companies tariff benefits in China that are similar to those received by Southeast Asian countries under a separate trade pact with China that went into effect earlier this year.
It also contains provisions protecting intellectual property rights for both sides - an important gain for Taiwan’s entertainment sector - and regulates cross-strait banking.
In tying Taiwan’s high-tech economy closer to China’s lucrative markets, it paves the way for much closer political relations between the sides - cited by China as one of its key benefits.
Closer political and economic ties serve China’s longterm goal of returning the island to its control, the fundamental aim of its Taiwan policy for the past six decades.
The United States also strongly supports the trade agreement because it reduces the chances of conflict. Such a conflict seemed possible as recently as three years ago under former Taiwanese President Chen Shui-bian’s pro-independence pronouncements and China’s repeated threats to combat them with military force.
But since assuming office two years ago, successor Ma Ying-jeou has jettisoned Chen’s policies, insisting that closer economic ties with the mainland serve the interests of both sides and provide Taiwan its best chance of escaping increasing economic and political isolation.
Madoff aide’s property up for sale
MORRIS PLAINS, N.J. - Collectors and curiosity-seekers looking for a glimpse into the lifestyle of one of Bernard Madoff’s closest associates will have their chance this week.
The U.S. Marshals Service is auctioning off items from the New Jersey home of former Madoff finance chief Frank DiPascali. The items for sale include art, gold-toned furniture, arcade games and exercise equipment.
A public viewing was scheduled for Thursday in Morris Plains. The auction is today.
DiPascali was released on bail this week as he awaits sentencing for money laundering, securities fraud and other crimes.
Business, Pages 28 on 06/25/2010