UALR business college to honor 2 alumni
Scott Teague has been named Distinguished Alumnus of the Year by the University of Arkansas at Little Rock's College of Business, the university said Wednesday. Nancy Andrews Collins, a 2009 graduate of the UALR executive master's of business administration program, will receive this year's Dean's Award for Excellence.
Both will be honored at the 2015 College of Business Distinguished Alumni Award Luncheon on Oct. 14 at the downtown Little Rock Marriott. Teague is a commercial banking executive for U.S. Bank, which is sponsoring the luncheon. Tickets are $100.
Teague is a longtime member of the UALR College of Business Advisory Board and the North Little Rock School Board. Collins is an associate professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, where she did her residency training in obstetrics-gynecology.
-- Cyd King
Home BancShares to report on quarter
Home BancShares, which owns Centennial Bank branches in three states, will hold a conference call at 1 p.m. today to discuss its second-quarter earnings.
The bank is scheduled to release its second-quarter financial report before the market opens today.
Interested parties can listen to the report by calling (877) 508-9586 and asking for the Home BancShares conference call.
Conway-based Centennial Bank has branches in Arkansas, Florida and Alabama.
-- David Smith
Yum Brands hurt by falling China sales
Yum Brands Inc., the fast-food company that owns KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell, posted second-quarter sales that missed analysts' estimates after its China segment reported poor results.
Revenue fell 3.1 percent to $3.11 billion in the period, the Louisville, Ky.-based company said in a statement Tuesday. Analysts estimated $3.19 billion on average for the quarter, which ended June 13.
Yum, which gets more than half of its revenue from China, is still reeling from a food-safety scare in the country and an avian-flu outbreak. It's also seeing more competition from local restaurant brands. Same-store sales fell 10 percent in China, compared with a 12 percent decline in the previous quarter. Analysts projected an 8.4 percent drop, according to Consensus Metrix.
"Recovery is a slow process," said Sara Senatore, an analyst at Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. in New York.
Yum shares fell $2.70, or 3 percent, to close Wednesday at $88.88.
Yum has been trying to convince Chinese consumers that its food is safe to eat after a scandal involving a supplier accused of using outdated meat. The company also has attempted to attract customers with new foods.
-- Bloomberg News
FAO Schwarz toy store in NYC closes
NEW YORK -- The FAO Schwarz toy store on New York City's Fifth Avenue is taking a final bow.
The store closed its doors for good Wednesday night -- though it may reopen elsewhere in midtown Manhattan.
Owner Toys R Us announced the decision in May, citing costs.
The company has had a New York City location since 1870. It opened the flagship store in 1986.
The Fifth Avenue fixture included a candy store, three levels of specialty toy departments and personal shoppers.
It's been featured in several movies, including Big, where Tom Hanks danced on its large floor piano.
Toys R Us, based in Wayne, N.J., has been privately held since 2005. It bought the FAO Schwarz brand in 2009.
-- The Associated Press
Google tests buy button for mobile ads
Google Inc. is testing a feature to let consumers purchase products by clicking through advertisements, seeking to expand options for mobile retail sales.
The Internet-search company's service, Purchases on Google, will let people using smartphones click on select search ads that take the users directly to a retailer-branded product page hosted by Google, according to a statement from Google. The tools will work with a "limited number of retailers" for now, the company said Wednesday.
Facing competition from Amazon.com Inc., Google is investing in ways to attract shoppers and retailers to its mobile services as consumers increasingly use smartphones as they consider purchases.
"Fewer people wait to head to the mall on Saturday to go shopping," the company said. "Thanks to smartphones, shopping now happens anytime and anywhere."
The company also announced an effort to alert smartphone users to information such as sales and loyalty programs at nearby stores, through its Google Now program. Google is expanding information on product ratings in ads and giving users more data on local inventory, as well.
-- Bloomberg News
CSX: Fewer coal, oil loads to pare profit
OMAHA, Neb. -- CSX expects faltering demand for coal and crude oil to slow profit growth this year, and the railroad plans to lay off roughly 1 percent of its workers to adjust.
CSX predicted relatively flat third-quarter profit with slower volume and continued weak energy demand. Coal volume is expected to drop 15 percent as export demand remains weak and U.S. utilities have large coal stockpiles on hand. Plus, drilling for natural gas and crude oil has slowed because of the current low prices.
Railroads have been dealing with relatively weak coal demand for several years because low natural gas prices and concerns about pollution regulations prompted many utilities to switch from coal to gas.
CSX shares gained 33 cents, or 1 percent, to close Wednesday at $32.40.
The Jacksonville, Fla., company this week reported second-quarter profit of $553 million, up from $529 million, last year. Revenue fell 6 percent to $3.06 billion.
CSX's profit beat the 53 cents per share that analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research were expecting, but revenue fell short of the forecast of $3.14 billion.
CSX Corp. operates more than 21,000 miles of track in 23 Eastern states and two Canadian provinces.
-- The Associated Press
Business on 07/16/2015