EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Compiled by Mike Mason
TOP STORIES
State Attorney General Bill Lockyer filed suit against Beverly Hills-based Trevor Law Group, which has sued hundreds of auto repair shops and restaurants in Orange County over alleged unfair trade practices (see related story, page 8). Critics of Trevor Law say the firm targets small businesses, asking for up to $3,000 to make the lawsuits disappear, amounting to little more than a legal shakedown. Trevor Law says it is fairly applying the unfair practices code. Meanwhile, the state is investigating several other law firms that have pursued similar suits, including Tustin-based Callahan McCune & Willis LLP … Foothill Ranch-based Pacific Sunwear of California Inc. said it plans 75 net new store openings this year, up from the 60 openings previously planned. PacSun posted same-store sales gains of 20.4% in January, bucking the negative trend at most U.S. retailers. The teen apparel retailer had 73 net store openings last year.
TECHNOLOGY
Plano, Texas-based Microtune Inc. filed another lawsuit against Irvine-based Broadcom Corp., alleging that the chip maker has engaged in anti-competitive behavior in bundling its chips together. Microtune also has a patent infringement lawsuit against Broadcom set to begin March 6 … Anaheim-based DDi Corp. said it took a $5.4 million charge for undisclosed employee cuts in the fourth quarter. DDi said its fourth-quarter operating loss narrowed to $14 million vs. a loss of $82 million a year ago on flat sales of $63.9 million … Irvine-based Rainbow Technologies Inc. said its Mykotronx unit won a $60 million, 30-month deal from the National Security Council for its encryption devices to securely link communications between the 50 state capitols and federal agencies in Washington, D.C. … Newport Beach-based Acacia Research Corp. said its fourth-quarter operating loss widened to $26.8 million vs. a $9.8 million loss a year earlier on sales of $16,000, down from $1.1 million … Irvine-based STM Wireless Inc. won court approval for a short-term loan of $400,000 to make payroll it missed two weeks ago. Sloan Capital Partners, managed by the brother-in-law of STM Chief Executive Emil Youssefzadeh, has offered to buy the company in a $4 million cash and debt deal.
REAL ESTATE
Newport Beach’s city council will ask voters in November 2004 whether a 110-room luxury resort should replace a mobile home park on Balboa Peninsula… Environmental group Endangered Habitats league Inc. filed suit to prevent Irvine-based Rutter Development Corp. from starting on its 162-home Saddle Creek and Saddle Crest project at the edge of Trabuco Canyon … County supervisors considered a plan that would charge builders inspection fees based on the cost of the inspectors’ time rather than the flat fee that is currently used. A final decision could come Tuesday … Newport Beach-based Health Care Property Investors Inc. said Albuquerque, N.M.-based Sun Healthcare Group Inc. stopped paying rent in February and has asked that four leases be terminated. Health Care Property said it’s negotiating with replacement operators for the four care facilities … Irvine-based homebuilder California Coastal Communities Inc. said its fourth-quarter operating profit more than quadrupled to $3 million vs. a year ago on a tripling of sales to $19.6 million.
HEALTHCARE
Irvine-based Allergan Inc. said France approved the use of its Botox treatment to reduce frown lines between the eyebrows. Botox, which is licensed for use in 19 countries, will be sold in France under the name Vistabel … Costa Mesa-based Ribapharm Inc. said its fourth-quarter operating profit grew 23.8% to $58.3 million vs. a year earlier on a 53.5% jump in sales to $83.9 million. But the drug maker said part of its sales gain was the result of an intense marketing effort by partner Schering-Plough ahead of that company’s competing drug coming on the market.
FINANCE
Consumer Portfolio Services Inc., an Irvine-based company that packages auto loans for sale as bonds, said it swung to a fourth-quarter operating profit of $3.3 million vs. a loss of $480,000 a year ago on an 81.6% increase in revenue to $25.6 million.
GOVERNMENT
Officials at the Orange County Transportation Authority said Costa Mesa will have to pay $3 million to study whether a 1-mile stretch of the proposed CenterLine light-rail plan can go under South Coast Plaza. The transportation agency wants CenterLine to be elevated at South Coast Plaza … The Irvine City Council, meanwhile, set a June 3 citywide vote on two CenterLine initiatives. One would kill the project in Irvine with the other supporting construction.
WHAT ELSE IS NEWS
Shares of Australia’s Billabong International Ltd., which has its U.S. operations based in Irvine, fell 11% after the company said its 2003 profit could come in lower than expected on currency uncertainty, the potential impact of war on tourism in the U.S and Europe and an oil spill in France and Spain that shuttered major beaches there … Torrance-based Wherehouse Entertainment Inc. said it would close 11 music stores in Orange County as part of its bankruptcy reorganization plan … Grapevine, Texas-based Blue Chalk Cafe Inc. closed its Left at Albuquerque restaurants in Orange and Irvine as part of its bankruptcy restructuring plan … Foothill Ranch-based Oakley Inc. filed a suit against Richardson, Texas-based Fossil Inc. for allegedly violating its sunglass patents. Oakley also claims Fossil used its patented lenses coating … St. Louis-based Telescan LLC bought Santa Ana-based Axon Communications Inc., a maker of telephone answering hardware and software, for an undisclosed amount. Telescan plans to keep the Axon unit in OC … Irvine-based The Keith Cos. won a $900,000 engineering contract from the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California … Costa Mesa-based ceramics maker Ceradyne Inc. said its fourth-quarter operating profit doubled to $1.4 million vs. a year earlier on a 46.1% surge in sales to $17.6 million. But the company warned that its sales growth might not be sustainable.
ECONOMIC INDICATORS
Up: Orange County apartment rents in the fourth quarter, up 1.7% to $1,207 vs. a year earlier, according to Carrollton, Texas-based M/PF Research.
