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El Dorado starts $100 million chemical plant Saturday, Apr 26, 2008 By Roby Brock TETRA Technologies, an oil and gas services company based near Houston, Texas, broke ground on a new $100 million chemical processing facility in El Dorado. The new 500,000 square-foot facility will be located on 18 acres and will employ 50 people at full production. The announcement was first made in December 2006, but details were not revealed at the time. Approximately 400 people will be employed in construction of the facility, which is expected to be completed by late 2009. TETRA's El Dorado operation will be a calcium chloride processing facility, which is used to help oil and gas companies in well construction. Baldor earnings improve 23 percent Manufacturing bellwether Baldor Electric reported earnings of $25.6 million in the first quarter of 2008, a 23 percent increase from one year ago. Revenues for the Fort Smith-based manufacturer improved 19 percent to $470.5 million. Baldor officials say that sales increased by 1 percent over the last year when adjusted for the closing of its Reliance Electric acquisition and the fact that there were two fewer selling days in the quarter. The motor and generator maker also disclosed that its backlog of orders grew by more than $25 million during the quarter. First Federal profits up on one-time gain First Federal Bancshares of Arkansas ended a long skid of poor financial results, but only because of a one-time earnings boost. The Harrison-based savings and loan reported net income for the first quarter of 2008 of $1.1 million compared to a $159,000 profit one year ago. Earnings included a one-time gain of $1.2 million from a death benefit claim from life insurance policies reported in the bank's non-interest income. "We are pleased to report another profitable quarter, but the downturn in the housing market and weak economy continue to have an adverse impact on our bank," said Larry Brandt, First Federal CEO. He added that the bank remains "bullish" on the future of Northwest and North-Central Arkansas. Southwestern revenues, profits skyrocket For the first quarter of 2008, Southwestern Energy reported revenues of $524.1 million and net income of $109 million. One year ago, Southwestern posted earnings of $51 million on quarterly revenues of $284.6 million. The phenomenal growth was accelerated due to the company's Fayetteville Shale production and higher natural gas prices. "We had a very active and productive first quarter," stated Harold Korell, Southwestern President and CEO. "Our results in the Fayetteville Shale continue to improve, resulting in strong growth in our production volumes." Chesapeake officials hiring more Arkansans At a mid-week economic forecast conference, Chesapeake Energy's Arkansas director Danny Games told the audience the percentage of Arkansans working for the natural gas firm is on the rise. This time last year, roughly 10 percent of Chesapeake's jobs on drilling rigs in the Fayetteville Shale were filled by Arkansans. That number has climbed to 40 percent and will continue to grow, says Games. Chesapeake currently employs 354 people in Arkansas and 299 of those employed work on rig crews. Deltic timber posts quarterly loss Sales were down dramatically in the first quarter of 2008 for Deltic Timber Corp. as the El Dorado-based timber and real estate company noted a softness in all areas of its core business. For the quarter, Deltic reported a net loss of $368,000 compared to net income of $6.6 million in the previous year's first quarter. Deltic President and CEO Ray Dillon blamed the downturn on poor conditions in the overall housing market. "The company's reported financial results were negatively impacted by the further slowdown in the U.S. housing market. Difficult market conditions existed for both our lumber manufacturing and residential real estate operations," Dillon said. Deltic also reported that in the first quarter it received approximately $120,000 from its first royalty payments related to gas wells on property in the Fayetteville Shale play. Arkansas Best earnings up Arkansas Best Corp. first quarter earnings rose to $8.5 million compared to $4.8 million one year ago. The Fort Smith-based trucking firm also saw its first quarter revenues grow to $447.5 million from $427.8 million in the first quarter of last year. Company officials say that cost controls and managing labor expenses helped boost performance. Fort Smith firm buys bankrupt manufacturer River Bend Industries of Fort Smith has acquired Victor Plastics, Inc., for approximately $17 million. The acquisition will preserve approximately 300 jobs in the eastern Iowa area. Victor Plastics had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in January. River Bend is a plastic injection molding company that supplies Whirlpool, Exide Industries and the Husqvarna Group of Sweden. Wal-Mart nominates two new board members Wal-Mart Stores announced that its board of directors has nominated two new members. The nominations of Gregory B. Penner, a general partner at the investment management firm Madrone Capital Partners, and Arne M. Sorenson, executive vice president and chief financial officer of Marriott International, Inc., will be voted on at the company's annual shareholders' meeting in June. The company also announced that current board members Jack Shewmaker and Roland Hernandez will not stand for re-election at the annual meeting. Penner is the son-in-law of Wal-Mart board chairman Rob Walton. Workers comp rates to decline This week, State Insurance Commissioner Julie Benafield Bowman announced a 12.8 percent decrease in workers' compensation rates in Arkansas, effective July 1. Citing reforms from a 1993 workers compensation reform package and aggressive health and safety programs, Bowman said that including this year's decrease, rates have fallen by 52 percent since 1995. Franchise taxes due for businesses Arkansas businesses must file annual reports and franchise taxes by midnight on Thursday, May 1 to the Secretary of State's Business and Commercial Services Division. Every incorporated business, whether domestic or foreign, must pay the annual fee to do business in Arkansas. The fee can be paid in person, by mail, or online at www.sos.arkansas.gov. Student loan agency gets $80 million credit line State finance officials agreed Thursday to provide an $80 million line of credit to the Arkansas Student Loan Authority. The loan will allow the agency to continue lending to college students despite a downturn in the bond markets tied to the sub-prime mortgage crisis. The bond market decline has resulted in a slowdown in lump-sum sales of student loans at the national level, which in turn, has hindered the financial status of the state student loan agency. ------- 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. |
