Compiled by Julie Leupold
TECHNOLOGY
Aliso Viejo-based QLogic Corp., a maker of electronics for data storage networks, said it expects sales for the December quarter to be $155 million to $157 million, up from an earlier forecast of $147 million to $151 million. Sales for the quarter could come in 10% to 12% higher than a year earlier.
Irvine-based business software maker Epicor Software Corp. said it expects fourth-quarter sales to surpass Wall Street’s expectations on higher licensing revenue for its products. The company said sales could come in at $115 million to $117 million, versus the $111 million analysts had expected. Profits also should come in higher, though Epicor didn’t offer specific guidance. Wall Street had been expecting about $15 million in quarterly profit.
Newport Corp., an Irvine maker of industrial lasers and related gear, said it expects fourth-quarter profits and sales to exceed an earlier forecast. The company said it sees its profit surpassing the $5.9 million to $7.4 million estimate it gave in October, largely due to a change in tax accounting. Sales are seen coming in above the $110 million to $115 million range projected three months ago.
Irvine chipmaker Microsemi Corp. is paying $2 million for a Massachusetts maker of electronics for military and defense contractors. The company is buying Danvers, Mass.-based TSI Microelectronics Corp., which has yearly sales of $1.2 million and is profitable, according to Microsemi. The deal includes $600,000 in cash. Microsemi said it expects TSI to immediately add to its profits.
HEALTHCARE
Santa Ana-based hospital operator Integrated Healthcare Holdings Inc. said its president, Larry Anderson, has left the company. Anderson, who cofounded Integrated with Chief Executive Bruce Mogel in 2003, left “by mutual agreement,” according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing. Anderson plans to serve as a consultant through June. Mogel is adding the president’s title and duties. Anderson is set to get $465,000 in severance and $180,000 under the consulting deal, according to the filing.
Irvine’s Allergan Inc. won a victory last week when Jan Marini Skin Research Inc. halted sales of its cosmetics that lengthen eyelashes. Allergan, which is developing its own eyelash lengthener from its glaucoma drug Lumigan, had been in a patent dispute with Jan Marini. In November, federal agents seized thousands of tubes of Jan Marini’s Age Intervention Eyelash, which the Food and Drug Administration called an “unapproved and misbranded drug.”
EDUCATION
The Army is paying the University of California, Irvine up to $5.5 million to help develop better versions of body armor that soldiers are wearing in Afghanistan and Iraq. The research will be directed by Maria Feng at UC Irvine’s new Center for Advanced Monitoring and Damage Inspection.
APPAREL
Anaheim-based Pacific Sunwear of California Inc., which is closing a chain of stores selling urban-style clothes to focus on its surfwear shops, lowered its profit outlook for the current quarter on weak December sales. The company said it expects profits of $20.5 million to $22.6 million. Wall Street on average had been expecting a profit of $24 million.
RESTAURANTS
BJ’s Restaurants in Huntington Beach posted a 29% yearly increase in fourth-quarter revenue to $85.2 million. Sales at restaurants open at least a year rose 4.9% for the three months ended Jan. 1.
GOVERNMENT
Irvine City Council members Christina Shea and Steven Choi filed a lawsuit against the Orange County Great Park Corp., a city agency they help oversee as board members, demanding to inspect the resumes of 150 applicants that recruiters say they’ve received for chief executive to oversee the redevelopment of the former El Toro Marine base. The search yielded two finalists with ties to City Hall.
OTHER NEWS
Fast food pioneer Carl Karcher, founder of the Carl’s Jr. chain of hamburger restaurants, is in critical condition with pneumonia at Fullerton’s St. Jude Medical Center, family members said. Karcher, 90, retired as chairman emeritus of Carl’s Jr. in 2004 because of poor health. Karcher suffers from Parkinson’s disease. He was admitted to St. Jude on New Year’s Day and his health has deteriorated since.
Irvine’s DisplayWorks, one of the county’s largest makers of tradeshow exhibits, is being sold by Britain’s Mice Group PLC to a private equity firm. Terms of the deal, set to close by Jan. 31, weren’t disclosed.
