EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Compiled by Mike Mason
TOP STORY
Shares of Costa Mesa-based ICN Pharmaceuticals Inc. jumped 30% to 11.99 after the company announced a management shuffle, layoffs of about 200 workers, European plant closures and third-quarter earnings results; ICN said it was naming interim Chief Executive Robert W. O’Leary as its permanent chief and that it hired GlaxoSmithKline PLC’s president of global manufacturing and supply as the company’s chief operating officer, and Cypress-based PacifiCare Health Systems Inc.’s executive vice president, pharmacy and technology, as its chief financial officer; meanwhile, ICN said it had a third-quarter operating loss of $68.7 million vs. a profit of $28.5 million last year, on an 18.4% sales gain to $215.9 million.
ELECTIONS
Orange County Congressional incumbents held their seats, with five Republicans and one Democrat heading to Washington, D.C.; Passing: Measure C, a $370 billion bond initiative for improvements in the Coast Community College District and Measure B, which requires the Navy to study and clean up toxic waste at the former El Toro Marine base; Failing: Proposition 51, which would have given Irvine some $120 million to help turn El Toro into a “Great Park,” though victorious Irvine mayoral incumbent, Larry Agran, said he believes developers’ fees will pay for the entire project; Up in the air: another closely watched race for a seat on Irvine’s City Council, with former mayor Christina Shea holding a slim lead over Mitch Goldstone late last week.
ENERGY
The California Public Utilities Commission will level a surcharge of as much as 2.7 cents a kilowatt-hour on “direct access” customers who left their local utilities to sign up with other providers; the surcharge will pay for electricity bought by the California Department of Water Resources.
TECHNOLOGY
Update on the tech sweepstakes: Aliso Viejo-based QLogic Corp. put a little distance between itself and Irvine-based Broadcom Corp. in the race for OC’s largest tech company by market value; late last week, QLogic was at $3.77 billion, with Broadcom at $3.37 billion; meanwhile, Broadcom was sued by Switzerland’s STMMicroelectronics NV, which alleges Broadcom violated six U.S. patents Costa Mesa-based Epoch Networks Inc. is splitting in two, with Irvine-based VitalStream Holdings Inc. buying Epoch’s Internet hosting unit and Atlanta-based Netifice Communications Inc. acquiring its Internet service provider operations Shares of Tustin-based SI Technologies Inc. jumped 43% to 1.50 after the company said it posted a fourth-quarter operating profit of $539,000 vs. a loss of $250,000 a year ago, on flat sales of $8.3 million A judge ordered Irvine-based Lantronix Inc.’s former chief financial officer, Steven Cotton, to turn over his financial records and those of his wife; regulators are looking into whether Cotton or other company officials made false or misleading statements prior to a stock offering last year; meanwhile, Lantronix said its first-quarter operating loss widened to $11.4 million vs. a year ago on a 20% decline in sales to $12.7 million Woburn, Mass.-based Skyworks Solutions Inc. said it will pay Newport Beach-based Conexant Systems Inc. $105 million of the $150 million it owes for buying Conexant’s semiconductor-assembly plant in Mexicali, with Conexant taking $45 million in Skyworks convertible bonds for the remainder; meanwhile, Skyworks will repay $35 million of its outstanding $65 million revolving credit line with Conexant, which spun off its wireless arm as part of Skyworks in June.
HEALTHCARE
Santa Barbara-based Tenet Healthcare Corp., the largest hospital operator in OC with 10 facilities, said its chief operating officer and chief financial officer have left the firm amid a regulatory inquiry into its Medicare billing practices and a separate investigation into hospital care problems at two of its 113 hospitals Costa Mesa-based Ribapharm Inc. said its third-quarter operating profit more than tripled to $47 million vs. last year on a tripling of sales to $63.2 million.
GOVERNMENT
Fixing cracks in a faulty freeway bridge connecting the Costa Mesa (55) Freeway to the San Diego (I-405) Freeway could cost $10 million, about 80% of the bridge’s initial planned cost.
REAL ESTATE
Supervisors OK’d a 283-home development on 222 acres in Trabuco Canyon’s Saddleback Meadows; the proposal by landowner California Quartet Ltd. had been challenged by the adjacent Ramakrishna Monastery, which is expected to contest the supervisors’ decision A judge temporarily blocked Anaheim’s purchase of The Grove of Anaheim after the Melodyland Christian Center filed a lawsuit against Philadelphia-based SMG over its sale of the concert hall to Anaheim for $6.7 million; Melodyland, which has made a higher bid for the concert hall, alleges breach of contract and fraud, among other charges.
WHAT ELSE IS NEWS
OC natives Bill Medley and Bobby Hatfield,known together as the Righteous Brothers,learned they will be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame next year; the singing partners are both Newport Beach residents Aliso Viejo-based Fluor Corp. said its third-quarter operating profit grew 11.7% to $73.7 million vs. last year on an 11.5% increase in revenue to $2.4 billion; Fluor reconfirmed its previous earnings guidance for the fourth quarter and said the company would show “modest improvement” in line with the global business climate next year Aliso Viejo-based investment bank Amara Group Inc. has made a $26.5 million bid for Santa Ana-based Troy Group Inc.; shares of Troy surged 30% to 2.18 on the news; Troy said it’s studying the offer Walt Disney Co.’s Disneyland Resorts unit raised the price of its annual passes by $6; the cheapest annual pass,the Southern California resident’s pass,goes for $105 Huntington Beach-based Quiksilver Inc. said it will produce an action-sports TV show for Fox Sports Net; the show, called “54321,” is set to debut Jan. 27 and will feature segments on skateboarding, surfing and snowboarding among other sports Foothill Ranch-based Wet Seal Inc. said its October same-store sales were 9.1% lower, worse than Wall Street’s forecast of a 2.2% decline.
ECONOMIC INDICATORS
Down: The Southern California Leading Economic Indicator, off 0.45% to 114.64 in the third quarter, its second-consecutive down quarter following a 0.61% fall in the second quarter, according to California State University, Fullerton.
