Ex-Wal-Mart exec on sales firm's board
Duncan Mac Naughton, former executive vice president and chief merchandising officer of Wal-Mart U.S., has been named to the Crossmark board of directors.
Crossmark, a marketing and sales company that serves Wal-Mart and its suppliers, announced the addition of Mac Naughton on Wednesday. Mac Naughton, who oversaw merchandise categories across U.S. stores, left the company in November.
"His insight and expertise will be highly valued as our company continues to drive innovation and build unique capabilities centered around consumer purchase behavior, enabling us to deliver smarter solutions for our clients and customers to grow their businesses faster," Crossmark CEO Steve Schuckenbrock said in a statement.
The company is based in Plano, Texas, and has more than 40,000 employees in the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Australia and New Zealand.
-- Chris Bahn
McDonald's to stop monthly sales posts
NEW YORK -- McDonald's said Wednesday that it will stop reporting its monthly sales results as the company works to fix its struggling business.
Steve Easterbrook, who became chief executive of McDonald's on March 1, announced the change during a presentation for analysts at the Bernstein's Strategic Decisions Conference in New York. The decision comes after Easterbrook laid out the initial steps for turning around the company's performance earlier this month.
During the presentation, Easterbrook also detailed some of the changes the company is making to improve business. In the U.S., for instance, the company is working on speeding up wait times at the drive-thru, which accounts for about 70 percent of sales.
McDonald's Corp., based in Oak Brook, Ill., said June will be the last month for which it reports sales at established locations. Those results will be reported with its second-quarter earnings results. Heidi Barker Sa Shekhem, a McDonald's spokesman, said McDonald's started reporting monthly sales results in 2003.
Other major restaurant chains, including Burger King's parent company Restaurant Brands International, and Yum Brands, which owns Taco Bell, KFC and Pizza Hut, do not report sales figures on a monthly basis.
-- The Associated Press
Ford recalls nearly 423,000 cars, SUVs
DETROIT -- Under pressure from U.S. safety regulators, Ford is recalling nearly 423,000 cars and SUVs in North America because the power-assisted steering can fail while they're being driven.
The recall covers certain Ford Flex and Taurus vehicles, as well as the Lincoln MKS and MKT from the 2011 through 2013 model years. Also covered are the Ford Fusion and Lincoln MKZ from 2011 through 2012 and some 2011 Mercury Milans.
Ford says an intermittent electrical connection can cause the power steering to stop. That sends the steering into manual mode, making the vehicles harder to control. The company said it knows of four crashes related to the problem but no injuries.
Dealers will either update power-steering-control software or replace the steering gear depending on the problem with individual vehicles. A new steering gear eliminates the electrical problem.
In October, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration began investigating complaints of power-steering failures on three Ford Motor Co. midsize car models.
-- The Associated Press
Study: VW growth to create 9,800 jobs
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. -- A new study projects Volkswagen's expansion in Chattanooga will lead to the creation of nearly 10,000 jobs.
The report conducted by the University of Tennessee's Center for Business and Economic Research was released Wednesday and estimates $370 million in new annual income once expanded production begins at the factory.
The report was commissioned by Volkswagen, which is spending $704 million to expand the plant to make a new sport utility vehicle and to open its new North American Engineering and Planning Center.
The projected 9,800 new jobs include 1,800 positions at the plant and 200 jobs at the engineering center.
"Extensive supplier linkages and good incomes earned by Volkswagen employees account for the significant employment gains and economic multiplier effects in Tennessee," said Bill Fox, the director of the University of Tennessee center and author of the report.
The plant expansion is scheduled to be completed by the summer of 2016.
The Chattanooga facility is Volkswagen's lone U.S. assembly plant.
Republican Gov. Bill Haslam last week signed into law the state's $33.8 billion spending plan that included about $166 million in state incentives for the VW plant expansion.
-- The Associated Press
U.S. banks' earnings jump 6.9% in 1Q
WASHINGTON -- U.S. banks' earnings rose 6.9 percent in the first quarter from a year earlier as revenue increased, delinquent loans continued to fall and the number of "problem" banks reached a six-year low.
The data issued Wednesday by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. showed "gradual but steady improvement" for the banking industry, FDIC Chairman Martin Gruenberg said at a news conference. Still, low interest rates continued to crimp banks' profit margins on loans during the January-March period.
The FDIC reported that U.S. banks earned $39.8 billion in the first quarter, up from $37.2 billion a year earlier.
Nearly 63 percent of banks reported an increase in profit in the first quarter from a year earlier. Only 5.6 percent of banks were unprofitable -- the lowest percentage of unprofitable institutions since the second quarter of 2005.
The volume of delinquent loans fell by 6 percent, and the average noncurrent loan rate declined from 1.96 percent to 1.83 percent, a seven-year low. Banks also increased by nearly 10 percent, or $756 million, the amounts they set aside to cover losses on loans. Lending grew by 0.6 percent, or $52.5 billion.
The number of banks on the FDIC's confidential "problem list" fell to a six-year low of 253 from 291 in the fourth quarter.
-- The Associated Press
Business on 05/28/2015