LITTLE ROCK — QUOTE OF THE DAY
“The financial sector is too big.The products are too complicated.Transparency is not there. In this sense, I say the financial sector still has a long way to go.”
Min Zhu, deputy managing director of the International Monetary Fund Article, 1D
Simmons First sets call on earnings
Simmons First National Corp. plans to hold a conference call today at 3 p.m. to discuss its earnings for the fourth quarter and all of 2012.
The conference call can be accessed by dialing (888) 438-5524 and asking for the Simmons First National conference call. A replay of the call will be available through 5 p.m. Wednesday by dialing (888) 203-1112. The pass code for the replay is 1242917.
In addition, the call will be available live or in a recorded version on Simmons’ website at simmonsfirst.com.
Jonesboro hospital venture unveiled
St. Bernards Healthcare in Jonesboro is joining Health-South Corp. of Birmingham, Ala., to provide inpatient rehabilitation services, the companies announced Wednesday.
The partnership will establish a new company that will combine the resources of the two organizations and operate at Health South Rehabilitation Hospital in Jonesboro, said Rebecca Rasberry, spokesman for St. Bernards.
The 67-bed hospital offers inpatient and outpatient rehabilitation services.
The cost of the transaction, which is subject to state and federal regulatory approval, was not disclosed. It is expected to be completed in the first quarter of this year.
Rasberry said in a statement there are no immediate plans to hire more employees for the joint venture.
Membership in unions slumps in ’12
WASHINGTON - The nation’s labor unions saw sharp declines in membership last year, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said Wednesday, led by losses in the public sector as state and local governments laid off workers and - in some cases - limited collective-bargaining rights.
The union membership rate fell from 11.8 percent to 11.3 percent of all workers, the lowest level since the 1930s.
Total membership fell by about 400,000 workers to 14.4 million. More than half of those lost - about 234,000 - were government workers, including teachers, firefighters and public administrators.
The labor movement already has been stretched thin by fighting efforts in states like Wisconsin, Indiana and Michigan to curb bargaining rights and weaken union clout.
But unions also saw losses in the private sector, even as the economy expanded modestly. The rate of membership fell from 6.9 percent to 6.6 percent, as job growth has generally taken place at nonunion firms.
Unions have steadily lost members since their peak in the 1950s, when about one of every three workers was in a union. By 1983, roughly 20 percent of American workers were union members.
General Dynamics’ loss $2.13 billion
FALLS CHURCH, Va. - Shares of General Dynamics rose slightly Wednesday after the aerospace and defense company reported a huge fourth-quarter loss due to charges related to reduced defense spending.
The charges “reflect the fact that some of our markets are contracting as government budgets shrink at home and abroad,” Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Phebe Novakovic said in a statement. “They also suggest opportunities for improvement in some areas of our performance, which we are addressing.”
The Falls Church company said it lost $2.13 billion, or $6.07 per share, during the October-December quarter, compared with net income of $603 million, or $1.68 per share, a year ago.
Revenue fell almost 12 percent to $8.08 billion from $9.15 billion.
Excluding the charges, the company earned $491 million, or $1.39 per share. That fell far short of Wall Street expectations. Analysts polled by FactSet expected earnings of $1.90 per share, on average, on revenue of $8.8 billion.
General Dynamics Corp. shares rose 74 cents, or 1 percent, to $71.45.
- The Associated Press
Hot in 2012, Ikea to expand globally
STOCKHOLM - Ikea said Wednesday that it plans to open 25 new outlets this year, recruiting 75,000 workers by 2020 as its global market share in 2012 increased and its annual net profit grew 8 percent to $4.3 billion.
The world’s largest furniture retailer on Wednesday reported revenue of $36.6 billion for the 2012 fiscal year, up from $34.6 billion a year earlier. The company does not release quarterly figures.
Ikea Group Chief Executive Officer Mikael Ohlsson said most growth last year was in China, Russia and Poland, closely followed by the United States and Germany.
Ikea said it had “continued lowering prices for customers and further improved product quality.”
The Sweden-based company has 338 stores employing some 154,000 people in more than 40 countries. The new outlets will mainly be in Asia.
- The Associated Press
CSX predicts flat 1st-quarter volume
OMAHA, Neb. - CSX Corp. expects 2013 to be another challenging year for the railroad, with continued weak coal demand but with growth in other areas likely to offset lower coal volume.
Executives at the Jacksonville, Fla.-based railroad held a conference call with investors Wednesday - a day after CSX reported a 3 percent decline in fourth-quarter profit.
CSX officials predict domestic coal shipments will decline by 5 to 10 percent in 2013 from last year’s weak levels.
In the first quarter of 2013, CSX officials expect shipping volumes to grow enough in intermodal, crude oil, fertilizer and building products to offset the decline in coal. So total volume in the quarter should be flat.
CSX said Tuesday that it generated $443 million in net income, or 43 cents per share, in the last three months of 2012. That’s down from $457 million, or 43 cents per share, in the previous year’s quarter.
Revenue fell 2 percent to $2.9 billion. CSX said declines in coal shipments more than offset gains in intermodal and merchandise shipments.
CSX shares rose 87 cents, or 4.2 percent, to $21.68.
- The Associated Press
Business, Pages 28 on 01/24/2013