Compiled by Alisha Gomez
TOP STORIES
Irvine chipmaker Broadcom Corp. reported a big drop in profits and a slide in sales for the second quarter. The company cited “variability” in orders from big customers for the declines. Sales were $898 million, down about 5% from a year earlier. Analysts on average had expected about $900 million in sales. Profits were about $34 million, down 68% from a year earlier. The figure includes various costs. Without expenses, Broadcom earned $162 million, in line with expectations. Meanwhile, a federal court last week dismissed San Diego-based Qualcomm Inc.’s appeal of a ban on phones that contain Qualcomm chips found to infringe on rival Broadcom Corp.’s patents. The U.S. Court of Appeals said the appeal lacked jurisdiction over the order issued by the International Trade Commission, a federal trade watchdog, according to a Reuters report. Verizon Wireless, a unit of Verizon Communications Inc., also inked a deal with Broadcom that gets around the ban. Verizon agreed to pay Broadcom a $6 per phone royalty to continue to use Qualcomm’s chips in its phones and personal digital assistants. Qualcomm rejected a similar deal with Broadcom.
Newport Beach’s Jazz Technologies Inc. upped its sales outlook for the second quarter on increased demand from customers. The chip plant operator expects sales to be about $52 million, up from its previous range of $48 million to $50 million, the company said. Analysts are looking for sales of about $49 million. Jazz is set to report results Aug. 6.
Masimo Corp., an Irvine medical device maker, outlined terms of its pending initial public offering. Masimo, whose offerings include a device that measures a patient’s oxygen level, said it plans to offer 11.9 million shares at $16 to $18. At the high end, Masimo would raise $214 million, up from an earlier estimate of $150 million. Masimo hasn’t set a date for the offering. Masimo’s applied to list its shares on the Nasdaq exchange under the ticker “MASI.”
Irvine-based subprime mortgage lender New Century Financial Corp. is seeking more time to develop a Chapter 11 bankruptcy plan, the company said in a recent court filing. New Century is seeking a 120-day extension of its exclusive control over its bankruptcy case as it continues winding down its business, the Associated Press reported. The extension would give New Century until Nov. 28 to come up with a plan and until January to get creditors to sign off on it. A hearing is set for July 31 in bankruptcy court.
Santa Ana-based NNN Realty Advisors Inc.,parent company of real estate investor Triple Net Properties LLC,has received federal approval to buy Chicago-based brokerage Grubb & Ellis Co. The Federal Trade Commission approval clears the way for NNN Realty to go public through a combination with Grubb & Ellis. No conditions were imposed on the deal. The deal’s expected to close later this year.
Ford Motor Co. has decided to sell Volvo, according to published reports, though the company stressed it’s not now in talks to sell the automaker with its U.S. headquarters in Irvine. The Sunday Times of London reported that Ford recently decided to seek offers for Volvo, which is part of the automaker’s Premier Automotive Group. Volvo could sell for $8 billion, according to the Times. In June, Ford confirmed it is looking at options for Jaguar and Land Rover, two other Premier Automotive brands.
The chief executive of Newport Beach-based SM & A; has resigned after less than four months on the job, the aerospace and defense consultant said last week. Cynthia Davis had been one of a few women to lead a major public company in Orange County. SM & A; didn’t say why Davis resigned. Davis had replaced founder Steve Myers, who ran the company for 25 years. SM & A; appointed Cathy McCarthy as its new boss. McCarthy, 60, has been president and chief operating officer.
ECONOMIC INDICATORS
Down: Weaker sales of mid-priced homes and the effects of the subprime mortgage meltdown led the median price of an Orange County home to reach a new record in June as higher priced homes dominated sales. The median price of a home stood at $645,000 in June, an increase of $10,000, or 1.5%, from May to June, according to La Jolla-based DataQuick Information Systems, a unit of Canada’s MacDonald Dettwiler and Associates. Prices here now stand $2,500 above the median of a year ago,the previous high seen in the county. There were 2,641 OC homes sold in June, down 1.4% from May and 32% below year-ago sales figures.
