CEO: U.S.-Cuba shift may lift cigar cost
A breakthrough in trade relations between the U.S. and Cuba could lead to an increase in prices for premium cigars if more Americans are able to buy them to smoke, the head of Imperial Tobacco Group Plc's Spanish unit said.
"If a new market that accounts for two-thirds of the global market opens up, it can generate tensions," Juan Arrizabalaga, chief executive officer of Altadis, told journalists Friday in the division's hometown of Madrid.
President Barack Obama said Wednesday that the U.S. would move toward normalizing relations with the Caribbean island nation by establishing diplomatic ties and easing economic barriers. The U.S. accounts for two-thirds of world consumption of premium cigars, or 300 million cigars a year, according to an estimate by Bristol, England-based Imperial Tobacco.
Imperial Tobacco owns 50 percent of Corporacion Habanos SA, a cigar-distribution joint venture with the Cuban government that it inherited with the acquisition of Altadis in 2008. The ban on cigar sales to the U.S. from Cuba dates from 1962.
Arrizabalaga said there is still a long way to go before Cuban cigars will be allowed for sale in the U.S.
-- Bloomberg News
Kentucky county OKs right-to-work law
BOWLING GREEN, Ky. -- Warren County has become the only local government in the country to approve a measure making it illegal for companies to require employees to join a labor union.
The move comes despite an opinion by Democratic Attorney General Jack Conway that says local governments lack the authority to pass such a law. In addition, labor unions have vowed to fight it in court.
The Warren County Fiscal Court passed the right-to-work law Friday after a tense meeting that attracted union workers from across the state. Twenty-four states have passed right-to-work laws. But efforts to do that in Kentucky have been blocked by Democrats in the state House.
Warren County leaders said they wanted to pass the law because it would help them compete for jobs with neighboring Tennessee, a right-to-work state.
-- The Associated Press
Chrysler to recall 288,000 Ram pickups
DETROIT -- Chrysler is recalling about 288,000 older Ram pickups in North America and elsewhere because the rear axle can seize or the drive shaft can fall off.
The recall covers Ram 1500 pickups from the 2005 model year.
Chrysler says in documents posted Friday by U.S. safety regulators that the rear-axle pinion nut can come loose. That can cause problems that make the trucks spin out of control.
The recall comes after an investigation by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration that began in June.
The agency found 15 complaints, including seven drivers who reported that the wheels locked at speeds over 50 miles per hour. Chrysler says there have been three crashes and one injury due to the problem.
The recall includes nearly 257,000 trucks in the U.S., another 22,000 in Canada, 8,800 in Mexico and 400 outside North America. The affected trucks were made from Jan. 28, 2004 to Aug. 3, 2005, according to the documents.
Dealers will install a fix at no cost to owners. The recall will begin in February. Customers can call Chrysler at (800) 853-1403 with questions.
-- The Associated Press
Analyst revises Instagram value to $35B
Instagram, the photo-sharing app owned by Facebook Inc., is probably worth $35 billion, almost double its previous valuation, according to an analyst.
Instagram's faster-than-expected user growth and increased revenue from advertising mean the company is valued at more than the $19 billion previously estimated, Mark May, an analyst with Citigroup Inc., said in a note.
"While Instagram is still early in monetizing its audience and data assets and its financial contribution to FB is minimal today, we believe that it is quickly gaining monetization traction," May wrote, using Facebook's ticker symbol. He cited "faster growth in its audience as well as continued monetization gains by social media properties."
May, who recommends buying Facebook shares, boosted his price target for the stock to $91 from $86. The shares rose $1.48 to close Friday at $79.88.
Instagram Chief Executive Officer Kevin Systrom earlier this month said the app had reached 300 million active monthly users, making it more popular than social-media website Twitter Inc.
-- Bloomberg News
Louisiana shrimp season called average
HOUMA, La. -- The fall shrimping season, which comes to a close on some state waters Monday evening, has been average for area fisherman.
"I've seen better seasons and I've seen worse seasons," said Darren Martin, owner of Martin's Fresh Shrimp in Chauvin.
Martin told The Courier that a year with no tropical systems meant shrimpers in his area got off to a good start about September. Martin said cold fronts during November worked to push shrimp out of the interior marshes, thus reducing harvest numbers.
The Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries announced the fall shrimping season, which opened in August, would close at sunset Monday and will include "most state inside waters and in a portion of state outside waters."
All state inside waters ranging from the Mississippi state line through Louisiana to the Texas state line are closed, except for a few exceptions east of the Mississippi River near Lake Pontchartrain. Most state outside waters will remain open, except portions west of the Atchafalaya River.
Martin said he will be focused on outside waters near the Gulf, but that means higher fuel bills and storms.
The rough waters aren't an issue for David Chauvin, who has a fleet of boats capable of braving the Gulf. He said those vessels will continue shrimping the open waters.
Chauvin, who owns Mariah Jade Shrimp Co. in Chauvin and Bluewater Shrimp Co. and David Chauvin Seafood Co. in Dulac, said his inshore season is set to finish above average.
"Every year is different," Chauvin said. "This year we had cold snaps in the middle of November, which pushed a lot of shrimp out off the coast."
-- The Associated Press
Business on 12/20/2014