'14 pay $2.7M for Home BancShares exec
John Allison, chairman of Home BancShares, made $2.7 million last year, according to the Conway bank's proxy statement.
Allison earned a $275,000 salary, $100,000 bonus, $1.3 million in stock awards, $595,000 in exercised stock options and $386,000 in other compensation.
Allison is the third-largest shareholder in the bank with 6.9 percent of the stock, behind two mutual fund companies, T. Rowe Price Associates and Black Rock Inc.
The other executives for Home BancShares, which owns Centennial Bank, and their income last year were Robert Birch, regional president for Centennial Bank, $1.1 million; Randy Sims, Home BancShares' chief executive officer, $607,000; Tracy French, chief executive officer for Centennial Bank, $586,000; and Randy Mayor, Home BancShares' chief financial officer, $462,000.
Home BancShares' annual meeting will be April 16.
-- David Smith
Philippines halts drilling in disputed sea
MANILA, Philippines -- The Philippine government has ordered the suspension of all exploration at an offshore oil and gas field because of an ongoing territorial dispute with China, a Filipino-British company said.
Oil and gas exploration company Forum Energy PLC said the Department of Energy instructed it to halt all work in its contracted area at Reed Bank in the South China Sea off the western Philippine province of Palawan.
The Energy Department issued the order because the area "falls within the territorial disputed area of the West Philippine Sea which is the subject of a United Nations arbitration process between the Republic of the Philippines and People's Republic of China," it said in a statement Monday.
Philex Petroleum Corp. owns 60.49 percent of Forum Energy, which has a 70 percent participating interest in the field. Philex Chairman Manny Pangilinan said last year that the project has not attracted other investors because of concerns about offending China.
The territorial dispute between the Philippines and China, which claims vast areas of the South China Sea, has been escalating in recent years. In 2013, Manila challenged China's claim at an international tribunal in The Hague, angering Beijing.
-- The Associated Press
Exxon plans $7B bond sale, source says
Exxon Mobil Corp. plans to sell as much as $7 billion of bonds in what would be its largest ever debt deal and the biggest energy-related offering since the plunge in crude prices.
The world's largest oil company by market value may issue the securities in as many as eight parts, according to a person with knowledge of the deal who asked not be identified citing lack of authorization to speak publicly. The longest-maturity portion may be 30-year notes that are expected to yield about 90 basis points more than comparable Treasuries, the person said.
Exxon holds top AAA credit ratings from Moody's Investors Service and Standard & Poor's, making it one of only a handful of corporations on almost equal footing as governments in debt markets. While the 50 percent drop in crude oil prices since June will hurt international oil companies, Irving, Texas-based Exxon remains in a better position than most to weather the downturn, Moody's said Tuesday in a report.
The bonds may be used to fund general corporate purposes, including acquisitions, capital expenditures, and refinancing, according to the person familiar with the deal.
Exxon last issued bonds in March, when it sold $5.5 billion in its biggest offering to date and its first deal since 1993.
-- Bloomberg News
Delta's seat-per-mile revenue falls 1.5%
ATLANTA -- Delta Air Lines Inc. said Tuesday that a key revenue measure fell 1.5 percent in February mostly because the strong dollar reduced the value of international ticket sales.
The figure is revenue for each seat flown 1 mile. It rises when airlines fill more seats or charge higher average fares.
Atlanta-based Delta said that domestic operations and corporate accounts continued to generate strong revenue.
Delta also said that traffic rose 5.1 percent, as passengers flew 13.66 billion miles last month. Domestic traffic rose 7.2, while international gained 1.9 percent.
The airline added 6.3 percent to its passenger-carrying capacity -- usually by adding flights or using bigger planes -- so there were more empty seats. The average flight was 80.3 percent full, down from 81.2 percent in February 2014. International service was added faster than the increase in traffic.
Shares of Delta rose 32 cents to $45.71 in late-morning trading Tuesday. They started the day down 9 percent in 2015.
-- The Associated Press
Fiat: Ferrari IPO offering could top 10%
When Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV holds an initial public offering this year for its Ferrari Division, it could sell a stake exceeding 10 percent as more investors than expected seek a share of the supercar manufacturer.
"The demand is much, much higher" than foreseen, Chief Executive Officer Sergio Marchionne told journalists Tuesday at the Geneva International Motor Show. "We should pay attention not to create imbalances" in the stock price.
Fiat Chrysler laid out a strategy last year to sell 10 percent of Ferrari in the IPO, with the parent company's remaining 80 percent stake to be distributed to Fiat Chrysler investors by year's end. Piero Ferrari, the son of founder Enzo Ferrari, owns the other 10 percent of the sports-car unit and plans to keep his holding.
Widening the IPO stake beyond 10 percent would reduce the risk of high demand artificially pushing up Ferrari's price, though it's "very unlikely" that Fiat Chrysler would sell its entire holding, said Marchionne, who is also the Italian sports-car unit's chairman. No final decision has been made, he said.
-- Bloomberg News
Group rehabbing vets buys Maine estate
ROME, Maine -- The former Maine summer home of beauty magnate Elizabeth Arden has been purchased by a nonprofit dedicated to disabled veterans.
The Travis Mills Foundation announced the purchase Tuesday.
The foundation said it intends to make extensive renovations to the property and convert it into the nation's first fully accessible "smart home" dedicated to serving the recreational and reintegration needs of combat-wounded veterans.
The estate was placed on the market last summer for $765,000, but the foundation did not announce the purchase price.
Arden built the main house in the town of Rome as her summer estate in the 1920s and later established the Maine Chance Spa at the site. Mamie Eisenhower, Judy Garland, and Ava Gardner were among the guests.
The property once covered 1,200 acres but was subdivided after Arden's 1966 death.
-- The Associated Press
Business on 03/04/2015