Cypress-based swimsuit maker Manhattan Beachwear Inc. announced a deal to make swimwear in the U.S. for Germany-based adidas AG’s high-performance line, adidas Pool, as well as its line of fashion swimwear, adidas Beach. Both swimwear lines are expected to hit stores in January.
Hyundai Motor America Inc., the biggest automaker based in Orange County, sold 62,021 vehicles in July, 4% more than a year earlier and a company record for the month. The company is based in Costa Mesa while a new headquarters is built in Fountain Valley. Hyundai sister company Kia Motors America Inc. in Irvine sold a company-best 48,074 vehicles last month, up 5.6% from a year earlier. Irvine-based Mazda North American Operations sold 19,318 vehicles, down 7% from July 2011. Cypress-based Mitsubishi Motors North America sold 4,194 vehicles, off 47% from a year earlier. American Suzuki Motor Corp. in Brea sold 2,266 vehicles, off 7.4% from a year earlier.
Irvine-based automotive marketer Autobytel Inc. posted a 16% rise in second-quarter profit from a year earlier to $231,000. Quarterly revenue increased 3% to $15.7 million on stronger demand for its services from auto makers and dealers as the auto industry rebounds from the recession.
Newport Beach-based Pacific Investment Management Co. cofounder William Gross received $200 million in compensation last year, according to a recent report in the New York Times based on an anonymous source (see related special report, beginning page 31). Pimco Chief Executive Mohamed El-Erian earned a reported $100 million.
Glenn Gray—who resigned from the chief post at Tustin-based Sunwest Bank in May—was appointed chief executive of South County Bank N.A., a subsidiary of Rancho Santa Margarita-based CalWest Bancorp.
Massachusetts-based medical device maker Covidien PLC cut 24 sales and support jobs in a move tied to the $108 million acquisition in March of Costa Mesa-based Newport Medical Instruments Inc. Covidien didn’t say if any OC workers were affected.
Allergan Inc. posted a 19% increase in second-quarter net income from a year earlier to $296 million. Quarterly revenue rose 5% to $1.47 billion despite the impact of adverse currency fluctuations.
Huntington Beach-based A-Med Health Care sold its specialty pharmacy division to Altamont Capital Partners in Palo Alto. Terms weren’t disclosed.
Ensign Group Inc. of Mission Viejo bought a nursing home in Escondido and two nursing homes in Idaho in separate deals on undisclosed terms. The former deal was for Palomar Vista Healthcare Center, a 74-bed facility; the latter involved Discovery Care Centre in Salmon and Owyhee Health & Rehabilitation Center in Homedale.
Minneapolis-based law firm Dorsey & Whitney LLP named Chris Dubia head of its Southern California office in Costa Mesa. Dubia succeeds Juan Basombrio, who was promoted to co-head of Dorsey’s recently formed international practice group.
The University of California, Irvine, was ranked No. 7 in “scholarly impact” among U.S. law schools. The study by University of St. Thomas School of Law in Minnesota based rankings on faculties’ law journal citations during the past five years. UC Irvine Law, which recently recently graduated its inaugural class, got an adjustment in the calculation “since they have only filled about a third of their planned faculty slots.” UCI Law’s Dean Erwin Chemerinsky is “now the most cited full-time law professor in the country,” according to the report.
Seattle-based drug maker Dendreon Corp. will keep its Seal Beach manufacturing plant open as it reworks some other operations. Dendreon, which makes Provenge, a treatment for advanced prostate cancer, will close a plant in Morris Plains, N.J., and restructure its administrative department.
Santa Ana-based Ansafone Contact Centers LLC will open a 300-person office in Ocala, Fla., in October. Ansafone, which provides telephone customer service for other companies, reiterated its commitment to Orange County in announcing the move to establish an office to service the Eastern Time Zone.
Irvine-based online game maker Blizzard Entertainment Inc. suffered a big drop in subscriptions for its flagship World of Warcraft franchise in the second quarter, but the losses were more than offset by subs for the more recently released Diablo III. Blizzard, a unit of Santa Monica-based Activision Blizzard Inc., posted a 175% increase in quarterly operation profit to $371 million, as revenue rose 103% to $634 million.
ECONOMIC INDICATOR
UP: Strengthening home prices in the closely watched S&P/Case-Shiller index. The 20-city U.S. composite home-price index rose 2.2% from April to May and is off just 0.7% from May 2011.
