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Tyson CEO outlines recovery plan Sunday, Sep 10, 2006 By Roby Brock Tyson Foods CEO Richard Bond said that the meat giant is focused on creating long-term shareholder value by selling more products across its distribution channels. Bond said a $200 million cost reduction program is on schedule, but product development would be the key to the company's long-term success. Bond said that Tyson is preparing to open a new research, development and training complex in early 2007 at Tyson's Springdale headquarters. Bond also touched on international sales, which have struggled in recent years due to threats from mad cow and bird flu scares. According to Bond, the company is making progress on a small, strategic acquisition in China and also continues to look at the possible purchase of poultry operations in South America. Car-Mart earnings dip, forecast cut Bentonville-based America's Car-Mart, which operates 89 car dealerships in nine states, reported that its first quarter profits fell 15 percent. For the quarter ended July 31, the company reported net income of $4.2 million versus a prior-year profit of $4.9 million. Car-Mart's revenue rose to $62.2 million from $58.2 million in the year-earlier period. The company also reduced its fiscal 2007 earnings by 6 to 7 cents saying that "difficult economic issues" are affecting a large part of Car-Mart's customers. IPTV vs. cable: round 3 Are you ready for another round of AT&T versus Comcast? The North Little Rock City Council will take up an ordinance Monday to allow Mayor Patrick Hays to enter into an agreement with AT&T Arkansas to offer the city Internet Protocol television (IPTV) services. AT&T has already hammered out IPTV agreements with the cities of Maumelle and Little Rock. DOJ spells out Alltel divestiture U.S. Department of Justice regulators ruled that Alltel must divest assets in rural Minnesota to gain final approval of a $1.075 billion deal to buy Midwest Wireless Holdings. Assets to be sold consist of Alltel's mobile wireless telecommunications services business, including cellular spectrum, retail stores and customers, in 28 Minnesota counties. Privately held Midwest Wireless operates in Minnesota, Iowa and Wisconsin. Alltel must still receive Federal Communications Commission approval of the Midwest purchase. Flakes give million dollar gifts Business leaders Karen and John Flake revealed that they will give $1 million to two causes: Arkansas Children's Hospital and Mount St. Mary Academy. John Flake is a real estate developer and Karen Flake is CEO of Flake-Wilkerson Market Insights, a marketing research firm. The $1 million gift to Children's Hospital will be designated towards the development of a new facility in Northwest Arkansas. Mount St. Mary Academy, an all-girls private Catholic high school in Little Rock, will apply its $1 million gift to its long-range endowment plan. Cella family gives $1 million to community The Cella family, which owns Oaklawn Racing Park, presented the Oaklawn Foundation for the Future of Hot Springs with a check for $1 million on Thursday. It is the largest single gift ever given to a Hot Springs charity. The money will be used to fund programs and scholarships to benefit Garland County students and senior citizens, including the construction of a new Center on Aging in association with UAMS and the Donald W. Reynolds Foundation. Overall state tax collections trending above forecast The state continues to see strong tax collections in its sales tax base, but there were some anticipated and unanticipated results in individual and corporate taxes that affected the Department of Finance and Administration's monthly report. Gross receipts, which include sales and use taxes, totaled $189.2 million during August, 2.4 percent above forecast levels. Individual income taxes brought in $151.1 million, 2.8 percent below forecast. The figures put the state's overall net revenues $20.4 million above forecast during the current fiscal year. State revenue forecasters anticipate a $234.5 million surplus this year on top of last year's $402.7 million surplus. Arkansas housing market up and down July's Arkansas real estate statistics hold good news and bad news. The state's top five housing markets all saw major declines in year-over-year numbers for units sold. Overall, home sales in Arkansas tumbled 10.5 percent on average in July. The bright spot in the report centers on average home prices, which were up 7 percent for the month. Washington County led the state with an average home price of $196,758, an 8.7 percent increase over last year. SWEPCO acquires land for Tontitown plant Southwestern Electric Power Co. (SWEPCO) has purchased a 44-acre tract located on U.S. Highway 412 near Tontitown for $4.2 million to construct one of two new Arkansas power plants. The site was formerly owned by Genova Power Co. of Plano, Texas, which originally planned to build there in 2001. The Tontitown plant will cost SWEPCO an estimated $130 million and should be online by June 2008. The power company is also building a large facility near Hope. Huntsville LaBarge plant secures contract LaBarge Inc. has received a $5.5 million contract from Northrop Grumman Corp.'s Electronic Systems sector to continue to produce an electronic chassis used in the fire control radar system of F-16 fighter aircraft. LaBarge began producing the wired chassis for Northrop Grumman in 2003. LaBarge says it expects production on the contract, which will be done at its Huntsville facility, to begin in November and continue through April 2008. Are you ready for some football? Apparently, Wal-Mart is. Wal-Mart and ESPN have inked a deal to integrate Wal-Mart into ESPN's Monday Night Football programming throughout the 2006-07 season. The co-branding partnership extends beyond the telecast of actual football games. The retail giant will sponsor ESPN Sportscenter features and receive custom promotion on ESPN.com to highlight Wal-Mart's low-cost HDTV offerings. Wal-Mart will also receive media exposure on ESPN Radio, in ESPN The Magazine, as well as on-site, in-store and promotion on all ESPN networks throughout the NFL season. Financial details of the marketing agreement were not disclosed. Sports programming is the biggest driver of high-definition television sales. ------- Roby Brock, a freelance journalist based in Little Rock, writes weekly for the Arkansas News Bureau. His weekly television program airs at 10 p.m. Sundays in Central and Northwest Arkansas. His e-mail address is roby@talkbusiness.net; his Web site address is www.talkbusiness.net. |
