LITTLE ROCK — QUOTE OF THE DAY
“It’s like selling a used car to a college kid. They are thrilled to have it and you are glad to get rid of it.”
Fadel Gheit, an analyst at Oppenheimer & Co., talking about BP selling its Texas City refinery Article, 6D
Wal-Mart to webcast investor forum
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. of Bentonville will webcast its 19th annual meeting for investors on Wednesday from 7:45 a.m.
to 3 p.m.
The webcast will include presentations and question and-answer sessions on Wal-Mart U.S., Wal-Mart International, Sam’s Club and Global e-Commerce, as well as the company’s growth plans and strategic direction for the next fiscal year.
Wal-Mart said it would provide a more detailed schedule online before the meeting at http://stock.walmart.com/. A live webcast of the presentations will be available through a link at http://walmart.com/events/.
Wal-Mart’s stock has traded recently at or near all-time highs. The shares gained 12 cents to $75.25 in Monday trading.
- Steve Painter
Walmex September sales jump 10%
Wal-Mart de Mexico, Latin America’s largest retailer, reported same-store sales rose 10 percent in September from the same month a year ago, higher than a forecast from Credit Suisse Group AG.
Walmex, as the company often is called, is majority owned by Bentonville-based Wal-Mart Stores Inc.
The increase in sales at stores open at least one year was the biggest since a 12.6 percent jump in November. Credit Suisse had forecast an increase of 7 percent in a Thursday research note.
Credit Suisse analyst Antonio Gonzalez said in the note that retailers probably benefited in September from an extra weekend compared with the same month in 2011. The calendar impact will revert in October, he wrote.
- Bloomberg News
Dish, Gannett resolve fee dispute
McLEAN, Va. - Dish and Gannett said Monday that they have reached an agreement in a fee dispute that had threatened to leave more than 2 million Dish subscribers in 19 cities without access to local television stations owned by Gannett.
Gannett, which is based in McLean, Va., owns such stations as KTHV-TV, Channel 11, in Little Rock.
The companies didn’t give further details in announcing their long-term agreement. The old deal had expired early Monday.
Dish Network Corp., based in Englewood, Colo., had claimed that Gannett Co. was asking for a 300 percent increase in fees for the right to carry 22 Gannett stations affiliated with NBC, CBS, ABC and Fox. Gannett has said it was seeking a fair deal in line with market rates.
The two sides also fought over Dish’s new digital video recorder, the Hopper, which allows customers to automatically skip commercials from the previous night’s prime-time broadcasts. After consumers switch on the service, their playback of recorded programming from the four network broadcasters excludes the advertisements that were recorded. The ad-skipping doesn’t work for live television.
- The Associated Press
Qatar Airways to join carrier alliance
NEW YORK - Qatar Airways is joining an alliance of airlines including American Airlines, British Airways and nine other carriers that coordinate routes and allow passengers to earn frequent flier miles on each other’s flights.
The inclusion in the “one world” alliance - aimed at allowing passengers to hop around the globe easier - signals the growing importance of Persian Gulf carriers such as Doha-based Qatar.
It will take 12 to 18 months for Qatar to join the alliance. The one world alliance competes with SkyTeam, a group of airlines including Delta Air Line, and the Star Team, which includes United Airlines and US Airways.
Frequent business travelers like alliances because they are able to earn and redeem frequent flier miles with the partners, use alliance airport lounges and book complicated trips on one itinerary.
- The Associated Press
2 Icahn associates on Navistar board
LISLE, Ill. - Heading off a proxy war, heavy truck and engine company Navistar is adding a colleague of activist investor Carl Icahn and a former protege of his to its board.
Navistar International Corp. said Monday that Mark Rachesky and Vincent Intrieri are now board members. Intrieri works for Icahn Capital LP. Rachesky runs MHR Fund Management LLC, a hedge fund that increased its stake in Navistar over the summer. Icahn Capital and MHR each own a nearly 15 percent stake in Navistar. The Lisle, Ill., company will add one more new director, to be approved by both Icahn and Rachesky, to its board. Three current members will leave the board.
As part of the agreement to appoint Rachesky, Intrieri and the third director, Navistar said Icahn and Rachesky have agreed that they won’t force a proxy fight at its 2013 annual shareholders meeting, and that they will support the board’s nominees.
Analyst Stephen Volkmann of Jefferies & Co. said the activist investors now have a significant, but not controlling, position on Navistar’s board.
Icahn has pressured Navistar to make changes. Last month he told the company that it should give shareholders more of a say in the decision-making process and allow them to appoint at least four board members.
Navistar shares gained $1.60, or 7.5 percent, to $22.81 in Monday trading.
- The Associated Press
Tampa Tribune sells for $9.5 million
TAMPA, Fla. - A private equity investment group has bought The Tampa Tribune newspaper from Media General Inc. for $9.5 million, the newspaper reported Monday.
The Tribune’s longtime corporate owner, Virginia based Media General Inc., is transferring ownership of the Tribune, its affiliated newspapers and TBO.com to the Los Angeles-based Revolution Capital Group. The investment group has formed a locally owned company, The Tampa Media Group, to run the paper.
Media General owned the Tribune for 46 years.
According to the announcement, Media General will retain the NBC affiliate, WFLA, News Channel 8 and the newspaper and the television operations will continue their news partnership.
The Tampa Tribune has a daily circulation of 144,510 and a Sunday circulation of 262,369.
The new company did not address whether there will be layoffs at the paper or any other changes.
- The Associated Press
Business, Pages 20 on 10/09/2012