Compiled by Mike Mason
Boeing Co. said it plans to shut down and sell its sprawling operations in Anaheim and move about 3,700 employees to its Huntington Beach site. The move from Anaheim is expected to take four years. The company said it plans to start “significant’ employee relocations in 2007 and continue until 2010. Boeing has a massive 1.5 million square feet of space in Anaheim, one of its largest sites in California. The company’s operations are the centerpiece of Anaheim’s industrial corridor along La Palma Avenue near the Riverside (91) Freeway. Irvine-based Boeing Realty Corp., which has rezoned and sold off other company land in Huntington Beach, Seal Beach and elsewhere, will handle the sale of the Anaheim site.
Irvine-based Broadcom Corp. said revenue climbed 56% in the second quarter but delayed reporting earnings, pending an investigation into stock option grant timing. The company didn’t say when the full results would be released for the second quarter. The chipmaker reported revenue of $941.1 million during the quarter, slightly missing analysts estimates of $941.8 million and cautioned about third-quarter sales.
Shares of Santa Ana-based SimpleTech Inc. soared after the company said surging demand would lead to a better-than-expected profit of $4.1 million to $4.6 million in the quarter. That’s up from a previous forecast of $2.3 million. The company also raised its revenue expectation to $78 million to $79 million for the second quarter, up from previous guidance of $67 million to $70 million. Flash memory sales drove results.
Fullerton-based Beckman Coulter Inc. filed its delayed first-quarter earnings report after finding no substance to allegations made by a former worker that its accounting procedures were flawed. The employee alleged improper accounting for about $25 million in inventory at the medical test instrument maker. Separately, Beckman said it was paying Switzerland’s F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd. $27.5 million plus royalties for the right to use patents related to molecular testing devices.
Irvine-based medical device maker Endocare Inc. said it would pay $750,000 to settle Securities and Exchange Commission claims that it committed accounting fraud in 2001 and 2002.
Britain’s GUS PLC said at its annual meeting that it was on track to spin off its Costa Mesa-based Experian Group unit in October. GUS said it plans to convene a shareholders meeting for a vote on the spinoff.
Newport Beach-based savings and loan Downey Financial Corp. reported second-quarter profit fell 23% on higher expenses and a decline in loan and mortgage revenue. Downey’s profit came in at $49.5 million. Analysts had expected $50.3 million. The thrift blamed the lower profits on a slowdown in demand for mortgages and higher costs.
Washington Mutual Inc. said its $980 million acquisition of Irvine-based Commercial Capital Bancorp Inc. is on track to close in the fourth quarter.
Honda Motor Co. signed on as sponsor of the Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim, which plans to change its name to Honda Center in October. The naming rights deal is the first for Honda and the first name change for the 13-year-old city-owned arena. Terms of the deal weren’t disclosed. The announcement was made last week to allow the Anaheim Ducks hockey team and vendors to prepare materials bearing the new name.
Foothill Ranch-based Oakley Inc. raised its sales guidance for 2006 after the company said it recorded a 19% rise in sales to $204 million in the second quarter, versus a year earlier. Oakley’s operating profit fell 20% to $28 million in the quarter. The company blamed higher costs related to acquisitions, stock options compensation and the consolidation of some European warehouses for the decline.
Newport Beach-based Collectors Universe Inc. said it authenticated or graded 957,000 units of coins, stamps, sports cards, autographs and other collectible gear, in the quarter ended June 30. That’s up 28% from a year earlier.
ECONOMIC INDICATORS
Mixed: Orange County’s housing picture in June, with the median price of a home sold up 7% to $646,000 from a year earlier, but the number of sales down 26% to 3,608, according to La Jolla-based market tracker DataQuick Information Systems.
Up: Apartment rents in OC in the second quarter, up 6.3% to $1,458, versus a year earlier, according to Novato-based RealFacts.
