News in brief

Wal-Mart to upgrade

poultry safety rules

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is asking suppliers in the United States to enhance poultry safety measures, the retailer said Thursday.

Citing a desire to further protect customers against food-borne illnesses, Wal-Mart has spent the past 10 months working with suppliers and other parties of concern to develop new guidelines. Wal-Mart and Sam's Club's vice president for food safety, Frank Yiannas, said the company included suppliers such as Tyson Foods and representatives from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in its talks about new guidelines.

Suppliers have until June 2016 to meet the standards, which include steps throughout the supply chain to reduce the potential for contamination. Included are guidelines for chicken parts and whole chickens, Yiannas said.

Tyson reported to shareholders that Wal-Mart accounts for 14.6 percent of its consolidated sales in fiscal 2014. No other customer represents more than 10 percent of consolidated sales for Tyson, which did not respond to a request for comment.

-- Chris Bahn

Malaysian asset sale

by Murphy proceeds

Murphy Oil Corp. has closed on the first phase of a $2 billion sale of some of its Malaysian oil and gas assets, the driller said Thursday.

The El-Dorado-based company's subsidiaries -- Murphy Sabah Oil Co. Ltd. and Murphy Sarawak Oil Co. Ltd. -- are selling 30 percent of their Malaysian assets to Pertamina Malaysia Eksplorasi Produksi, an Indonesian state energy company.

The first phase of the transaction covers about 20 percent of the assets. The deal, which was announced in September, is expected to close the first quarter of 2015, Murphy Oil said.

"I am pleased to close on the first phase of this important transaction with Pertamina that marks the value of our long term Malaysian business," Roger Jenkins, company president and chief executive officer, said in a statement.

-- Jessica Seaman

Arkansas Index rises

as upswing persists

The Arkansas Index, a price-weighted index that tracks the largest public companies based in the state, rose 6.72 to 387.02 Thursday.

"U.S. stocks continued to climb higher Thursday, fueled by Federal Reserve commentary, as the S&P 500 had its best two-day period in three years," said John Blackwell, senior vice president and managing director of equity trading at Stephens Inc. in Little Rock.

Dillard's Inc. shares rose 2.8 percent.

Windstream Holdings Inc. shares fell 1.7 percent.

The index was developed by Bloomberg News and the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette with a base value of 100 as of Dec. 30, 1997.

Business on 12/19/2014

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