TOP STORIES
Washington Mutual Inc. said it plans to buy Irvine-based Commercial Capital Bancorp Inc. for $983 million. Seattle-based Washington Mutual is paying about 13% above Commercial Capital’s market value before the deal was announced. Commercial Capital, which has $5.5 billion in assets, is the third largest apartment lender in California. The deal is expected to wrap up in the third quarter. It must be approved by Commercial Capital shareholders and regulators Newport Beach-based Jazz Semiconductor Inc. filed to raise $105 million in an initial public offering. The company, a contract chipmaker formerly part of Newport Beach-based Conexant Systems Inc., pulled a $150 million initial public offering plan last June. Washington, D.C.-based private equity investor Carlyle Group owns 47% of Jazz. The company’s 2005 revenue declined 9% to $199 million from a year earlier with net losses more than doubling to $11.5 million.
Santa Ana-based Ingram Micro Inc., the world’s largest distributor of technology products, beat its own guidance and Wall Street’s expectations with results for the first quarter. The company said it posted quarterly income of $62 million, up 45% from a year earlier when Ingram lodged one-time charges. Without those charges, the company’s net income was up 25%. Revenue was $7.6 billion during the quarter, up 8% from the year-ago period Irvine-based Gateway Inc. said it signed a pact with French retail chains Darty and BUT to sell Gateway and eMachines computers in the country. Meanwhile, the company reported a net loss of $12.3 million during the first quarter, which included charges of $14 million for legal expenses. Without the litigation costs, Gateway would have posted net income of $1.7 million in the quarter, compared to a loss of about $21 million a year earlier. Gateway’s revenue rose 29% to $1.1 billion in the quarter, versus a year ago Shares of Western Digital Corp. jumped after the Lake Forest-based disk drive maker recorded a 23% rise in sales to $1.1 billion in the quarter ended March 31, versus a year earlier. Net income rose 45% to $70.8 million in the period. Western Digital said it continued to gain from its sales push into notebook, consumer electronics and other new markets, though disk-drive sales to desktop computer makers still accounted for most of its revenue Strong sales of cable set-top boxes spurred sales and profit gains at Newport Beach-based Conexant Systems Inc. in the quarter ended March 31. The chipmaker said adjusted income was $13.1 million, versus a loss of $36.5 million a year earlier. Revenue climbed 43% to $243 million compared to the year-ago period.
Apria Healthcare Group Inc. of Lake Forest recorded a 36% drop in first-quarter profit to $16.1 million, versus a year earlier. The primary cause was no surprise to the provider of home healthcare services: lower Medicare payments from the federal government. Apria’s revenue fell 10% to $368 million.
Title insurer First American Corp. reported lower than expected first-quarter profit as costs related to the company’s diversification push and title loss provisions offset higher revenue. First American said it earned $69.7 million in the quarter, down from $79.2 million a year earlier. The company’s revenue of $2 billion was up from $1.7 billion from a year earlier.
Irvine’s City Council voted 3-2 to clarify that the city controls some $380 million in funding for the city’s park redevelopment at the former El Toro Marine base. Two council members argued it should be the Great Park Advisory Board that controls spending at the park John Wayne Airport officials said they plan to levy a $4.50 per passenger charge to raise about $321 million to fund a terminal and parking expansion. Construction on the five-year expansion is expected to start this year.
Costa Mesa-based Volcom Inc. reported higher first-quarter operating profit, beat forecasts for net income and raised its outlook for the current quarter and the rest of the year. Quarterly sales at the apparel designer rose 31% to $41.6 million from a year earlier. Operating income rose 10.6% to $6.7 million. Net income came in at $4.4 million, down 30% from a year ago because of tax issues Irvine-based Pacific Hospitality Group LLC said it plans to develop a resort in Healdsburg, 60 miles north of Napa in wine country.
ECONOMIC INDICATORS
Mixed: The median price for a detached Orange County home in March, down 0.5% to $717,320, versus February, but up 7.5% from a year earlier, according to the California Association of Realtors, which excludes condominiums from its research. Sales of detached homes in the county were up 64% from February but off 28% from a year earlier.
