Darden Restaurants Inc. has hired Wal-Mart executive Jeffrey Davis as its senior vice president and chief financial officer. He will begin work with the Orlando, Fla.-based company Thursday.
Davis had been with Wal-Mart since 2006, most recently as executive vice president and chief financial officer for the company's U.S. stores division. He joined Wal-Mart as vice president for finance in the retailer's U.S. specialty division and was later promoted to executive vice president and treasurer for Wal-Mart Stores Inc.
"Jeff is an operationally-focused CFO with a track record of helping businesses thrive," Darden CEO Gene Lee said in a news release.
Davis will replace Brad Richmond, who is leaving Darden after 32 years. Darden owns and operates more than 1,500 restaurants, employs 150,000 and generates $6.8 billion in annual sales.
Rig count in state holds steady at 4
There were only four drilling rigs exploring for natural gas in Arkansas as of Friday, according to oilfield services company Baker Hughes Inc.
While that number is unchanged from last week, it is low for the state, which saw rig activity soar to about 60 when drilling in the Fayetteville Shale peaked in 2008.
The three main operators in the shale -- Southwestern Energy Co., BHP Billiton Ltd., and Exxon's XTO Energy Inc. -- have scaled back drilling in Arkansas and moved their rigs to shale formations in other states.
The number of rigs operating nationwide has fallen in response to lower oil and natural gas prices.
On Friday there were 863 active oil and natural gas rigs operating in the United States, up 1 rig from last week, Baker Hughes said in its weekly report. A year ago, there were 1,875 working rigs.
Index surges 4.56 as 17 stocks gain
The Arkansas Index, a price-weighted index that tracks the largest public companies based in the state, jumped 4.56 to 364.88 Friday.
All but one stock in the index gained ground.
Windstream rose 3.3 percent in light trading and Communications Sales & Leasing was up 3.2 percent.
P.A.M. Transportation Services climbed 2.8 percent on low volume.
Murphy Oil shares fell 1.5 percent to a 52-week low in light trading.
For the week, winners and losers were evenly divided.
USA Truck rose almost 12 percent for the week, and Windstream shares fell 8.2 percent.
Total volume of the index was 15 million shares. The average daily volume for the week was 22.4 million shares.
The index was developed by Bloomberg News and the Democrat-Gazette with a base value of 100 as of Dec. 30, 1997.
Business on 07/11/2015