Murphy to buy back $50 million in shares
Murphy USA Inc.'s board of directors has approved a $50 million share-repurchasing program of its common stock, the El Dorad0-based company said Wednesday.
The timing and number of shares that will be bought back "will be determined by management at its discretion," according to a news release.
Murphy USA will use its existing cash balances to fund the buyback program, which is expected to finish by Dec. 31.
"We are proud to be in a position to make a meaningful return to our shareholders this early in our tenure as a stand-alone company," said Andrew Clyde, president and chief executive officer, in a statement.
Murphy USA shares rose 23 cents to close Thursday at $45.18.
-- Jessica Seaman
30-year mortgage rate drops to 4.21%
WASHINGTON -- Average U.S. rates on fixed mortgages fell this week for a second-straight week as the spring homebuying season has gotten off to a slow start.
Mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said Thursday that the average rate for the 30-year loan declined to 4.21 percent from 4.29 percent last week. The average for the 15-year mortgage eased to 3.32 percent from 3.38 percent.
Mortgage rates have risen almost a full percentage point since hitting record lows about a year ago.
Rising prices and higher rates have made affordability a problem for would-be buyers, while many homeowners are reluctant to list their properties for sale.
Roughly a third of homeowners owe more on their mortgages than they could recoup from a sale.
To calculate average mortgage rates, Freddie Mac, the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp., surveys lenders across the country between Monday and Wednesday 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 a 30-year mortgage declined to 0.6 point from 0.7 point a week earlier. The fee for a 15-year loan remained at 0.6 point.
-- The Associated Press
World food costs decline 1.6% in April
LONDON -- World food costs fell for the first time in three months in April as dairy, sugar and vegetable oil costs declined, the Food and Agriculture Organization said.
An index of 55 food items dropped 1.6 percent to 209.3 points from 212.8 points in March, the Rome-based organization wrote in an online report Thursday. Prices are down 3.5 percent from a year earlier. An index of dairy costs slid 6.3 percent on increased production in New Zealand and improving prospects for output in the Northern Hemisphere, the United Nations agency said.
"The dairy market seems to be tempering on prospects of better supplies coming in," Abdolreza Abbassian, a senior economist at the organization, said Wednesday. "Production is rising, which I think is the market's response to the higher prices that we had seen earlier in the year."
An index of vegetable oil prices dropped 2.8 percent in April to 199 points, spurred primarily by a drop in palm oil, according to Thursday's report. Palm oil futures fell to a three-month low Thursday in Kuala Lumpur amid rising inventories in Malaysia, the second-biggest producing country.
-- The Associated Press
Barclays to cut 7,000 more jobs by '16
LONDON -- Barclays will cut 7,000 jobs at its investment bank, about a quarter of the total, as Chief Executive Officer Antony Jenkins tries to revive profit by reducing the lender's dependence on the unit.
That will raise the total number of jobs to be cut across the firm by 2016 to 19,000, including the 12,000 announced in February, Barclays said in a statement. The company will create a "bad bank" to dispose of $195 billion of assets, including complex derivatives from its fixed-income, currencies and commodities unit and its European consumer arm.
Jenkins, a retail banker by training, has been under investor pressure to cut costs at the investment bank created by his predecessor, Robert Diamond. The unit this week posted a 49 percent drop in first-quarter profit, as revenue from fixed-income, currencies and commodities, traditionally its biggest source of income, dwindled. Thursday's plan will cut the investment bank's share of the firm's assets to 30 percent by 2016 from about 50 percent, Barclays said.
"The revised strategy is sensible and should be well received," Andrew Coombs, an analyst at Citigroup Inc. in London, wrote in a note to clients. "The shift in business mix from investment banking toward retail and commercial could potentially lead to a re-rating in Barclays' shares."
-- Bloomberg News
Kellogg settles suit over 'natural' labels
NEW YORK -- Kellogg said it will no longer use the "All Natural" or "Nothing Artificial" labels on certain Kashi products as part of an agreement to settle a class-action lawsuit.
The company, based in Battle Creek, Mich., will also pay $5 million to settle the suit.
In an emailed statement, Kellogg Co. said it stood by its advertising and labeling practices but that it would change its formulas or labels nationally by the end of the year. The suit had accused Kashi of misleading people by stamping the phrase "All Natural" or "Nothing Artificial" on products that contained a variety of synthetic and artificial ingredients.
Among the ingredients listed in the suit were pyridoxine hydrochloride, calcium pantothenate, hexane-processed soy ingredients, ascorbic acid, glycerin and sodium phosphate.
The settlement was filed May 2 in U.S. District Court in California and is subject to court approval.
The Food and Drug Administration says it doesn't have an official definition for the term "natural," noting that a food product has likely been processed and is "no longer the product of the earth." But the agency notes that it has not objected to the use of the term if the food does not contain added color, artificial flavors or synthetic substances.
-- The Associated Press
Business on 05/09/2014