EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Compiled by Mike Mason
TOP STORIES
Irvine-based Freedom Communica-tions Inc. said it hired Morgan Stanley to help it appraise a proposed sale of the company to fourth-generation family members as well as prepare other possible plans, including a sale of the company or its parts, that will allow shareholders to cash out of their holdings in the privately held company; the fourth-generation proposal is set to be unveiled at Freedom’s Nov. 12 board of directors meeting; activist shareholders led by Tim Hoiles, grandson of Freedom’s founder, have been pressing for a plan to let them sell their stakes in the company, which is the parent of the Orange County Register and other TV, radio and print holdings OC housing prices are expected to fall 5% to 10% next year, according to a forecast by California State University, Fullerton; 14,400 jobs will be created, a 1% increase, according to the study (see story, page 1).
TECHNOLOGY
Irvine-based Epicor Software Corp. said it would cut about 10% of its workforce, or 100 workers, as the tech slump is hitting revenue; Epicor said its third-quarter operating profit fell 8.6 % to $18.3 million vs. last year on a 13.8% decline in sales to $34 million Shares of Costa Mesa-based Emulex Corp. surged 22% to 16.85 after the company said its operating profit in the September quarter more than doubled to $22.1 million vs. last year on a 34% rise in sales to $70.4 million Newport Beach-based Conexant Systems Inc. said its September-quarter operating loss narrowed by 65% to $40.2 million on a 10.5% increase in revenue to $157.9 million Shares of Irvine-based Newport Corp. fell 22% to 9.75 after the company said it would close its Santa Ana chip gear assembly plant, lay off 25 to 75 more workers than previously estimated and post lower-than-expected sales in the fourth quarter; Newport said its third-quarter operating loss grew 35% to $46.7 million on a 20% decline in revenue to $45.5 million Irvine-based Quest Software Inc. said it planned to buy Toronto-based Sitraka Inc. for $51.7 million in cash; meanwhile, the company said its third-quarter operating profit grew to $6.2 million vs. $111,000 last year on an 11.4% rise in sales to $63.1 million Credit Suisse First Boston’s stock rating on Irvine-based Lantronix Inc. is one of a number of ratings that Massachusetts securities regulators are citing in their civil complaint against the investment bank; regulators say that in 2001 Credit Suisse boosted its rating on Lantronix to “strong buy” from “buy” after an executive from Lantronix contacted a Credit Suisse research supervisor; Lantronix said that the case has nothing to do with the company today, as it has new management since the time of the contact A judge turned the assets of bankrupt Orange-based Worldwide Wireless Networks over to Fremont-based NextWeb Inc.; Worldwide said NextWeb planned to retain its 17 workers in Orange.
HEALTHCARE
Irvine-based Allergan Inc. said its third-quarter operating loss was $35.9 million vs. a profit of $67.3 million last year on a 24% increase in revenue to $350.6 million; Allergan’s results include a one-time charge of $118.7 million to settle a dispute with Pharmacia Corp. and Columbia University A unit of Exeter, N.H.-based Tyco International Ltd. has been ordered to stop making and selling a medical device that allegedly infringes on a patent held by Rancho Santa Margarita-based Applied Medical Resources Corp.; the Tyco unit paid $20.5 million in damages to Applied Medical to settle a previous patent infringement case Irvine-based Sicor Inc. said it had a third-quarter operating profit of $39 million vs. $1.1 million last year on a 28% increase in sales to $115.9 million.
GOVERNMENT
The University of California, Irvine said fall enrollment hit a record 23,779 students, an 8.6% increase vs. last year; the university said enrollment at its engineering school has jumped 79% to 553 in the past three years.
REAL ESTATE
The surging housing market helped a couple of local title insurers: Santa Ana-based First American Corp. said its income grew 54.8% to $129 million vs. last year on a 23.9% gain in revenue to $1.2 billion; and Irvine-based Fidelity National Financial Inc. said its third-quarter income was 71% higher to $143.5 million on a 30% increase in sales to $1.3 billion The Santa Ana City Council approved a $2.8 million makeover plan for three historic buildings in the Phillips-Hutton block; following the work, the buildings will house a restaurant, an architecture firm and a consulting company The Orange Unified School District sold 509-acre Barham Ranch to the county for $4.5 million; the school district plans to use the funds for school improvements and expansions and the county will fold the ranch into nearby park land Irvine-based Standard Pacific Corp. said strong homebuilding markets in California, Florida, Arizona and the Carolinas offset slowdowns in Colorado and Texas in the third quarter; the company said its homebuilding revenue rose 38% to $462.3 vs. last year’s quarter, although net income fell 14% to $22.6 million.
WHAT ELSE IS NEWS
The economic impact of the OC’s arts organizations rose 59% to $408 million from 1997 to 2001, according to a study by Chapman University and the Orange County Business Committee for the Arts Inc.; the study found that the nonprofit arts community employs 4,747 workers in the county and had income of $113 million last year Foothill Ranch-based Oakley Inc. said weaker-than-expected sunglasses sales and the disappointing launch of its shoe line led to a decline in third-quarter operating income; the company said its profit fell 8.9% to $19.3 million on a 15.7% jump in revenue to $131.9 million; the company was expecting 25% growth in sales Moody’s Investors Service cited declining theme-park attendance and weak advertising and viewership at ABC-TV as it lowered its long-term debt rating on Walt Disney Co. to “Baa1,” its third-lowest rating Huntington Beach-based Quiksilver Inc. opened its 44th,and biggest,company-owned store in Orlando Anaheim-based Interstate Electronics Corp., a unit of N.Y.-based L-3 Commun-ications Holdings Inc., won a $4.4 million contract with Boeing Co. to supply global positioning systems receivers for use in radios.
ECONOMIC INDICATORS
Mixed: Permits for residential building in Orange County, up 23% to 7,946 in the first nine months of the year vs. a year ago, according to the Construction Industry Research Board. Apartment permits more than doubled from a year ago but housing permits fell 3%.
