Compiled by Mike Mason
Shares of Fullerton-based Beckman Coulter Inc. fell sharply after the maker of medical testing and research gear said second-quarter profit fell 18% from a year earlier to $47.7 million, well short of what analysts had expected. They were looking for $56.9 million in the June quarter. This marks the second quarter in a row that Beckman has missed analysts’ profit expectations. Second-quarter sales were up 3.6% to $619 million, but still below Wall Street’s target. Beckman said it plans to cut 350 jobs as part of a restructuring. The company plans to combine its dominant clinical diagnostics business and its smaller biomedical research unit into one, taking a $60 million charge in the second half of the year.
Irvine-based chipmaker Broadcom Corp. said it plans to buy Siliquent Technologies Inc. for $76 million in cash. Mountain View-based Siliquent designs devices that boost the performance of networks and storage devices. The deal has been approved by the boards of both companies and is set to close by Sept. 30. Meanwhile, Broadcom shares soared after the company said its net income in the second quarter fell to $15.1 million from $68.3 million a year earlier. Sales were down 6% to $604.9 million. Excluding a onetime charge to settle shareholder lawsuits, Broadcom’s earnings were $122.2 million, unchanged from a year ago. The chipmaker earned several upgrades on Wall Street on the results Irvine-based Westec InterActive, which offers video and other monitoring services to businesses, has raised $20 million in funding. The company plans to use the money for acquisitions and technology.
San Clemente-based ICU Medical Inc. said it earned $4.7 million in the second quarter, up 39% from a year ago and exceeding analysts’ forecasts of $3 million. Sales were up 88% to $40.7 million Valeant Pharmaceuticals International of Costa Mesa said a drug to treat hepatitis B showed positive results in the second-phase trials … Shares of Micro Therapeutics Inc., an Irvine medical device maker, spiked after the Food and Drug Administration approved its application to commercialize its Onyx system for treating disorders of the brain’s blood vessels. Micro said it plans to immediately start selling Onyx San Juan Capistrano-based Silverado Senior Living Inc. said it is buying a nursing home in Plano, Texas. Silverado operates 12 homes that provide care for people with Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, vascular and other memory-related diseases.
Santa Ana’s First American Corp. was among three title insurers that agreed to settle charges by California Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi that they paid kickbacks to homebuilders in exchange for business. The settlement calls for First American to pay $20 million, Jacksonville, Fla.-based Fidelity National Financial Inc. to pay $13.3 million and Richmond, Va.-based LandAmerica Financial Group Inc. to pay $4.5 million Redmond, Wash.-based Trendwest Resorts Inc. said it plans to start work early next year on a 14-story, 253-room timeshare near Disneyland in Anaheim.
Aliso Viejo-based XsunX Inc. said it raised $10.9 million in venture funding. The company, which is developing a film that lets glass windows produce electricity, said Jersey City, N.J.-based Cornell Capital Partners LP led the round.
Newport Beach-based Orange County Business Bank said its net interest income more than tripled to $1.4 million in the second quarter. The bank swung to a net profit of $496,000, versus a loss of $395,000 a year earlier Irvine-based Commercial Capital Bancorp formed a unit focused on banking services for businesses. The thrift hired James R. Daley, a former Comerica Inc. executive, to run the division.
Laguna Woods’ City Council voted to use eminent domain to buy its leased city hall site from owner S & P; Co. of Mill Valley John Wayne Airport officials said passenger traffic rose 4% to 856,085, versus a year earlier. Takeoffs and landings fell 0.5% to 29,191.
Daystar Television Network said it plans to sue the Coast Community College District and KOCE Foundation. Daystar, a religious broadcaster, said it was discriminated against when KOCE-TV Channel 50’s foundation won a bid to buy the channel over Daystar, which said it had the higher offer Kia Motors America said it will build a $17 million, 65,000-square-foot design center at the site of its planned U.S. headquarters in Irvine.
ECONOMIC INDICATORS
Up: Orange County’s housing market in June, with the median price of a home sold up 11.7% to $603,000, versus a year earlier, and the number of homes sold up 3% to 4,898, according to La Jolla-based DataQuick Information Systems.
Up: Apartment rents in June, with the average monthly rent up 6.2% to $1,419 in the OC-Los Angeles area, versus a year earlier, according to Novato-based RealFacts.
