LITTLE ROCK — State Farm Bureau convention nears
The Arkansas Farm Bureau next week will hold its annual convention in Hot Springs.
The convention will be from Wednesday to Dec.
3 at the Hot Springs Convention Center.
There will be discussions of the rise in cotton prices, herbicide-resistant weeds, broadband Internet deployment and the impact of Fayetteville Shale natural-gas production.
Gov. Mike Beebe will address the convention Wednesday, and the annual delegate session will be held Dec. 3.
There is no registration fee.
More information about the convention schedule is available at arfb.com/!docs/ARFB_ 2010_Convention_Pro gram.pdf.
MedCath pares loss as revenue increases
MedCath Corp. on Tuesday reported a net loss of $14.5 million for the quarter ending Sept.
30, compared with a loss of $50.1 million for the year earlier.
Charlotte, N.C.-based MedCath, with local cardiologists, owns Arkansas Heart Hospital in Little Rock.
Net revenue was $110.5 million, compared with $103.6 million a year earlier.
Admissions rose 6.9 percent in the quarter.
The loss per share was $1.06, down from a loss of $2.97.
Results for the quarter included a more than $30 million charge that included a reduction in the book value of assets related to two hospitals.
MedCath said in March that it would explore selling some of its hospitals or the entire company.
The company so far has sold the Arizona Heart Hospital in Phoenix and its interest in hospitals in South Dakota; Texas; and Yuma, Ariz. The company also has announced it has agreed to sell a hospital in San Antonio.
State index up 3.74
as 15 stocks rise
The Arkansas Index, a price-weighted index that tracks the largest public companies based in the state, rose 3.74 to 193.52 Wednesday.
“U.S. stocks rallied on Wednesday as easing tensions in Korea, improved jobless data and increases in consumer demand and personal consumption sparked the buying,” said John Blackwell, senior vice president of equity trading at Stephens Inc.
“The Arkansas Index moved higher, as 15 stocks advanced and 2 stocks declined.”
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 35 on 11/25/2010