Bear State's 2Q profit up 79% to $4.5M
Little Rock-based bank Bear State Financial on Thursday reported a second-quarter net income of $4.5 million, a 79 percent increase from the $2.5 million earned in the second quarter last year.
Bear State made 12 cents a share, up from 8 cents a share a year ago.
The bank had record mortgage production and profitability in the quarter, Mark McFatridge, chief executive officer, said in a prepared statement.
The bank had assets of $2 billion in the second quarter, up from $1.5 billion in the same period last year.
Bear State has 49 branches and four lending offices in Arkansas, Missouri and Oklahoma.
-- David Smith
Rice merchant King to lead U.S. group
Brian King of Jonesboro, a rice merchant with Erwin Keith Inc. in Wynne, has been elected chairman of USA Rice, the national advocacy group for the rice industry.
King succeeds Dow Brantley of England, a rice farmer who has been chairman of the group since 2014, Arkansas Rice said in a news release. Brantley and King have been busy this spring in negotiations to loosen the U.S. trade embargo against Cuba, allowing the country to import rice from Arkansas.
King has been a rice and grain merchant for more than 23 years. His two-year term as chairman begins Aug. 1.
Arkansas leads the nation in rice production with about 9 billion pounds raised each year that contributes about $6 billion to the state's economy.
-- Stephen Steed
Rates tick up for 15-, 30-year mortgages
WASHINGTON -- Long-term U.S. mortgage rates edged higher this week, remaining near historically low levels as a continued enticement to prospective homebuyers.
Mortgage giant Freddie Mac said Thursday the average for the benchmark 30-year fixed-rate mortgage rose to 3.45 percent from 3.42 percent last week. The average rate is down from 4.04 percent a year ago.
The 15-year fixed mortgage rate increased to 2.75 percent from 2.72 percent last week.
To calculate average mortgage rates, Freddie Mac, the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp., surveys lenders across the country at the beginning of 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 remained at 0.5 point this week. The fee for a 15-year loan also was unchanged from last week at 0.5 point.
-- The Associated Press
Mazda recalls small pickups for air bags
DETROIT -- Mazda is recalling almost 4,000 older small pickups mainly in southern U.S. states to replace Takata air bag inflators.
The recall covers passenger air bags in B-Series trucks made by Ford from the 2007 to 2009 model years.
The recall is part of an expansion of Takata recalls announced in May. Seventeen automakers are adding 35 million to 40 million inflators to what already was the largest auto recall in U.S. history. The number of inflators recalled could hit 69 million.
Takata uses ammonium nitrate to create a small explosion to fill air bags. But the chemical can deteriorate and burn too fast, blowing apart a metal canister and hurling shrapnel. At least 11 people have died worldwide.
Dealers will replace the inflators, but no timing was announced for repairs.
-- The Associated Press
Glitch again disrupts Southwest flights
Southwest Airlines Co. customers struggled for a second day as the carrier worked to recover from a technology failure that grounded some planes and prevented travelers from checking in for flights.
The Dallas-based carrier canceled 335 of its 3,900 daily flights Thursday after dropping 700 from its Wednesday schedule after the midafternoon crash of its network. The "vast majority" of operating systems were running by early Thursday, Chief Executive Officer Gary Kelly said.
The disruption occurred when an unspecified piece of equipment failed and a backup system also malfunctioned, Kelly said in an interview. The carrier has been working to replace much of its "old technology" that may have caused the problem, which didn't appear to be related to a system crash that occurred in October, he said.
"We'll still have a rough day today," Kelly said. 'Hopefully by the end of the day it will be smoothed out."
Cancellations stretched into Thursday as the airline worked to get crews and planes in position for flights.
Southwest warned passengers to expect longer-than-normal lines at airports and to arrive early. It said "flexible booking accommodation" is available for travelers holding tickets for flights through Sunday.
-- Bloomberg News
Snack-maker Utz to buy Golden Flake
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- The parent company of Golden Flake Snack Foods Inc., a longtime Birmingham, Ala., firm known for its potato chips and other snack foods, is being acquired by Utz Quality Foods Inc. of Hanover, Pa.
Golden Enterprises and Utz Quality Foods this week announced that they've entered into a merger agreement.
Golden Enterprises Chief Executive Officer Mark McCutcheon said in a statement that the merger will allow the Golden Flake brand to continue its growth in the southeastern U.S. while expanding product selections for consumers.
Utz Quality Foods Inc. is a privately held snack food company, founded in 1921 by William and Salie Utz, who began making potato chips out of their home in Hanover.
Their story is similar to how Frank Mosher, Mose Lischkoff and Helen Freidman began Golden Flake in 1923.
-- The Associated Press
Rural bankers' outlook sinks in survey
OMAHA, Neb. -- A monthly survey of bankers suggests there's been a drop in the already weak economic outlook for rural areas of 10 Western and Plains states.
A report issued Thursday on the Rural Mainstreet Index says it fell to 39.8 this month from 43.9 in June. Survey officials say any score below 50 on any of the survey's indexes suggests a decline in that area.
Creighton University economist Ernie Goss oversees the survey, and he says the overall index has remained below growth-neutral for 11 straight months. He says that over the past 12 months, farm prices are down 9 percent and livestock prices are down 16 percent.
Bankers from Colorado, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wyoming were surveyed.
-- The Associated Press
Business on 07/22/2016