LITTLE ROCK — QUOTE OF THE DAY
“There are a significant number of vehicles damaged by rising water, and typically after
the insurance companies come in, people use that money to buy those new vehicles.”
Ken Czubay,
Ford Motor Co.’s sales chief on damage caused by Hurricane Sandy Article, 1DSouthwestern reports loss in quarter
Southwestern Energy Co. on Thursday reported a quarterly loss for the second quarter in a row as the Houston-based company lowered the value of its natural gas and oil properties because of low natural gas prices.
Southwestern reported a third-quarter loss of $144.8 million, or 42 cents a share, the result of a $441.5 million write-down of its natural gas and oil assets.
The company did not say if the assets were in the Fayetteville Shale.
Excluding the write-down, Southwestern saw a profit of $131.8 million, or 50 cents per share for the period that ended Sept. 30.
In August, both Southwestern and BHP Billiton Ltd. announced write-downs of their natural gas assets.
Southwestern’s $935.9 million write-down on its natural gas and oil assets in the second quarter caused the company to record a net loss of $488.1 million, or $1.40 per share.
BHP Billiton’s Fayetteville Shale assets were lowered by $2.84 billion.
Southwestern will hold a conference call today at 9 a.m. to discuss the company’s third-quarter results. The call can be heard live on the Southwestern’s website, www.swn.com, or by calling (877) 407-8035.
- Jessica Seaman
Fort Smith logs positive September
Residential construction permits, home sales and retail sales were higher in the Fort Smith region in September, compared with the same month a year ago, according to Center for Business Research and Economic Development at the University of Arkansas in Fort Smith.
“The regional economy seems to have bounced back some as summer came to a close,” center Director Kermit Kuehn said. “One can hope these data indicate we’re finally getting some traction in our economy as we head into the fourth quarter.”
Kuehn cautioned that month-to-month data can fluctuate.
For September, retail sales for the Fort Smith area were 3.5 percent ahead of 2011, construction permits were up 4 percent and home sales were up nearly 6 percent, the report said.
The region’s September unemployment rate of 7.6 percent was down from 8 percent a year ago, the report said. Manufacturing employment was up 3.7 percent.
However, auto sales for September declined 12.7 percent from the previous year. Passenger counts at the city’s airport were down 3.6 percent.
- Lisa Hammersly
Average 30-year mortgage rate dips
WASHINGTON - The average U.S. rate on a 30-year fixed mortgage slipped this week and stayed near its record low, a trend that has helped home sales and refinancing.
Mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said Thursday that the rate on the 30-year loan declined to 3.39 percent from 3.41 percent last week. Four weeks ago, the rate touched 3.36 percent, the lowest level on records dating to 1971.
The average on the 15-year fixed mortgage, often used for refinancing, fell to 2.70 percent. That’s down from 2.72 percent last week and close to the record low of 2.66 percent reached two weeks ago.
The low rates have helped drive a modest housing recovery. Rates have fallen further since the Federal Reserve started buying mortgage bonds in September to encourage more borrowing and spending.
To calculate average mortgage rates, Freddie Mac, the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp., surveys lenders across the country on Monday through Wednesday 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 30-year loans was 0.7 point, unchanged from last week. The fee for 15-year loans ticked up to 0.7 point from 0.6.
- The Associated Press
Chinese manufacturing sees uptick
BEIJING - China’s manufacturing expanded for the first time in three months in October as output and new orders climbed, adding to signs that growth in the world’s secondbiggest economy is rebounding after a seven-quarter slowdown.
The Purchasing Managers’ Index climbed to 50.2 in October from 49.8 in September, the National Bureau of Statistics and China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing said Thursday in Beijing. A separate survey from HSBC Holdings and Markit Economics was at an eight-month high.
Shanghai’s benchmark stock index rose the most in three weeks as the reports added to evidence of an uptick in expansion this quarter after industrial production, exports and retail sales accelerated in September. The data may also reduce pressure on outgoing Premier Wen Jiabao to roll out more stimulus measures during a once-a-decade power handover that begins with a Communist Party congress next week.
- Bloomberg News
IMF tells Greece debt options many
Measures being considered to make Greece’s debt sustainable need to make a significant cut in that burden, an International Monetary Fund spokesman said Thursday as the country’s creditors negotiate ways to unfreeze its bailout package.
“Our view is that there are many options to help reduce Greece’s debt burden, and they should be considered,” IMF spokesman Gerry Rice told reporters in Washington. Debt buybacks “could be useful if they were implemented in such a way as to deliver a meaningful reduction.”
The combination of Greek political indecision and economic weakness in recent months has jeopardized the country’s efforts to meet a debt target of 120 percent of gross domestic product by 2020, from a peak now forecast at 192 percent in 2014. Germany has said it is open to discussing a proposal for a buyback of Greece’s debt that is supported by the European Central Bank, which holds about $58.2 billion of Greek government bonds.
European Central Bank Executive Board member Joerg Asmussen first aired the buyback plan in an interview with German newspaper Sueddeutsche Zeitung released on Oct. 12. Greece could be lent money to buy back its own bonds, which have a current market worth below their nominal value, he said.
- Bloomberg News
Business, Pages 30 on 11/02/2012