U.S. buys $8M more of One Bank shares
The U.S. Treasury Department on Monday paid $8 million to buy most of the shares of One Bank & Trust of Little Rock, said Jerry Pavlas, the bank's CEO.
The shares represent a majority of the bank, but not all of it, Pavlas said. Executives of the bank continue to own some shares, he said.
Technically, the Treasury Department has had possession of the bank since 2015, Pavlas said, and it now has legal title of the bank.
That's important for a One Bank recapitalization, because it terminates any relationship the bank had with the bank's holding company, One Financial Corp., Pavlas said. Now any debt that the bank has to the holding company is totally disengaged from the holding company, he said.
"Nothing about the sale of this stock affects [One Bank's] daily operations, employment or services to our customers or community," Pavlas said.
-- David Smith
$23.6B in spending on mothers forecast
Mother's Day spending is expected to reach $23.6 billion this year, according to a forecast by the National Retail Federation.
The projection would represent the highest amount spent on Mother's Day -- which is Sunday -- in the 14-year history of the federation's annual survey and a 10 percent increase from $21.4 billion last year. Individually, consumers are estimated to spend an average of $186.39.
Shoppers will spend the most on jewelry ($5 billion), followed by special outings such dinner or brunch ($4.2 billion), flowers ($2.6 billion), gift cards ($2.5 billion) and electronics ($2 billion), according to the survey.
The survey, which asked 7,406 consumers about their plans for Mother's Day, was conducted between April 4-11.
-- Robbie Neiswanger
State index off 2.67 to finish at 334.93
The Arkansas Index, a price-weighted index that tracks the largest public companies based in the state, dropped 2.67 to 334.93 Monday.
"The major averages were flat as investors were unmoved by the French presidential election and moved to the sidelines awaiting another catalyst," said Bob Williams, senior vice president and managing director of Simmons First Investment Group Inc. in Little Rock.
Total volume for the index was 29.7 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 05/09/2017