Compiled by Julie Leupold
TOP STORY
Orange County’s yearly job losses spiked in January to 64,600 from a year earlier and unemployment hit a level not seen since the 1990s recession, according to the state’s Employment Development Department. The job loss figure is new high watermark in more than a year of annual job losses reported each month. For all of 2008, the county lost 30,800 jobs, a 2% decline. January’s unemployment rate was 7.5%, which matched that of mid-1993.
TECHNOLOGY
An analyst cut his price target for Irvine-based Microsemi Corp.’s stock and lowered his profit expectations. Friedman, Billings, Ramsey & Co.’s Craig Berger cut his price target to $16 a share, down from $21, on difficulty in predicting orders. The stock was trading at about $9 on Friday. The analyst expects the company to post 2009 profits of $63 million, down from his previous estimate of $76 million. Microsemi faces “increased legal risk” from a Securities and Exchange Commission investigation of its chief executive over his resume, the analyst said.
Buena Park’s Noritsu America Corp., a maker of photo software, scanners and printers, said it plans to buy a maker of self-service photo printing kiosks for stores. Noritsu, part of Japan’s Noritsu Koki Co., is set to buy Vienna, Va.-based Lucidiom Inc. for undisclosed terms. The deal is expected to close in the current quarter. Noritsu said it plans to leave Lucidiom’s East coast operations and management team intact. Lucidiom has roughly 50 workers in all.
Aliso Viejo-based Networks In Motion Inc., a maker navigation and local search software for mobile devices, bought some assets from TrafficGauge Inc., a Seattle-based maker of software for real-time traffic. Terms of the deal weren’t disclosed.
HEALTHCARE
Irvine medical device maker Masimo Corp. reported a fourth-quarter profit before taxes that beat Wall Street’s expectations. Masimo, which makes patient monitoring devices and supplies, posted a profit of $14.4 million, prior to a $14.9 million tax charge related to a realignment of its international business. Analysts expected Masi-mo to make $9.5 million in the quarter.
Sun Healthcare Group Inc., an Irvine operator of nursing homes and other businesses, released fourth-quarter results that beat Wall Street expectations. Sun reported fourth-quarter net income of $82.4 million, up 133% from a year earlier. That figure includes an income tax gain of $67.5 million. Excluding items, Sun’s pre-tax profit was $16.3 million, up 20% and above Wall Street’s expectations of $11 million. Quarterly revenue was up 5% to $467 million. Analysts expected Sun’s revenue to be $461.8 million.
Three Orange County hospitals are being fined $25,000 for violating patient safety rules, according to the California Department of Health. Anaheim General Hospital, which has faced other regulatory issues, was cited for poor food handling. Fountain Valley Regional Hospital received its second health department penalty after a nurse gave oral medicine intravenously, causing a patient’s heart to stop beating and brain to swell. Western Medical Center-Santa Ana received its first state penalty for failing to adequately investigate a report that a staff member assaulted a psychiatric patient. Fountain Valley and Western Medical plan to appeal.
REAL ESTATE
Newport Beach-based homebuilder Wil-liam Lyon Homes Inc. reported a $23.2 million net loss for the fourth quarter, about $163 million less than it lost a year earlier. The company, which went private in 2006 but still reports results for debt holders, posted revenue of $146.4 million for the quarter, down 67% from a year earlier. Home deliveries, or closed purchases of houses, were off 49% from a year earlier, with 408 homes closed in the fourth quarter. New home orders dropped 53% to 168 homes in the quarter.
More than a dozen affiliates of Irvine-based apartment investor Bethany Group LLC filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The filings, made in the federal bankruptcy court in Santa Ana, are for several thousand apartments in three portfolios of properties in Maryland and Texas totaling $400 million
in secured debt. Bethany Group has four
portfolios not included in the bankruptcy
filing.
APPAREL
February sales at Foothill Ranch-based mall store operator Wet Seal Inc. did better than analysts expected as lower prices and shifts in clothes helped results. Wet Seal said sales at stores open at least a year fell 6.6%,lower than the 12% analysts expected and better than January’s 14.7% decline and 12.5% in December.
OTHER NEWS
Fountain Valley-based Hyundai Motor America Inc. and sister company Kia Motor America Inc. of Irvine fared better than most automakers again in February. Hyundai, part of South Korea’s Hyundai Motor Co., saw a slight dip in sales to 30,621 autos last month versus a year earlier, down 1%. Kia, also part of Seoul-based Hyundai, was flat at 22,073 vehicles in February.
Cypress-based Mitsubishi Motors North America Inc. closed its auto design center in Cypress, cutting 60 jobs. Mitsubishi, part of Japan’s Mitsubishi Motor Corp., is moving design done in Cypress to Japan. The Cypress studio had worked on the new Ellipse coupe and Spyder sports car.
Garden Grove-based US Metro Bank received $2.9 million investment from the government as part of Washington’s efforts to spur lending. Orange County banks now have received $13.5 million in federal money.
