Compiled by Alisha Gomez
TOP STORIES
Irvine-based Taco Bell Corp. President Emil Brolick is set to take a new post of president of U.S. branding for parent company Yum! Brands Inc. Yum Chief Operating Officer Greg Creed was named as Brolick’s replacement and is set to head Taco Bell starting Dec. 1. Yum also owns KFC and Pizza Hut. The moves are part of a reorganization aimed at increasing profits at all three chains, which saw third-quarter same-store sales decline from a year earlier.
Willdan Group Inc., an Anaheim company that handles engineering, security and financial consulting jobs for cities and counties, said it plans to go public this week in an offering worth about $30 million. The company plans to sell about 2.8 million shares at $9 to $11 apiece. Willdan expects proceeds of $6.3 million for general purposes, including paying down $1.6 million in debt, possible acquisitions and distribution to existing stockholders. The 46-year-old company, which has about 650 workers, posted sales of more than $67 million in 2005. It was in the black for two of the past three years and in this year’s first quarter.
Santa Ana-based MSC.Software Corp. said the Securities and Exchange Commission ended an investigation that started in 2005 without recommending any enforcement against the company. Regulators were looking at MSC’s delay and restatement of results dating back to 2001 because of an accounting review. The end of the federal probe finishes a tough chapter for MSC, which develops software that manufacturers use to test their designs. MSC lost its listing on the New York Stock Exchange, saw executive changes, switched its accounting firm and fended off a takeover attempt in recent years.
The median price of an Orange County home fell for a fourth straight month in October to $625,000, while the number of houses sold here showed the biggest yearly decline of any Southland county. The county’s median home price was down by $1,000 from September, according to La Jolla-based DataQuick Information Systems, a unit of Canada’s MacDonald Dettwiler and Associates. The median price is down 3.4% from June’s record $646,000, and up 3.1% from a year earlier. The number of homes sold in the county dropped 25% to 2,715 in October from a year earlier, the 12th straight month of yearly declines in sales. October’s home sales were up 2% from last month.
ECC Capital Corp., an Irvine-based subprime lender, narrowed its loss to $53.9 million from $78.9 million a year earlier. Operating costs dropped 26% from a year earlier as the company laid off 40% of its workers in two rounds of cuts this year. Net interest income dropped 17% to $23.9 million. In October, ECC said it was selling its subprime loan business to Bear Stearns Cos. for $26 million.
The Mission Viejo City Council is looking at several sites to build affordable housing. The city needs 94 units of affordable housing to meet a state requirement. A lack of affordable housing resulted in a lawsuit filed in April by the Public Law Center. The center contends that the city failed to take steps to provide adequate housing for poor residents. A hearing is set for January.
The University of California’s Board of Regents approved the University of California, Irvine’s plan to start a law school that would be the state’s first public one in more than 40 years. The law school’s first students are expected to enroll in fall 2009. UCI said it expects to serve 600 students within five years of opening its law school’s doors. It eventually will have 30 full-time faculty members. The decision caps years of attempts by UC Irvine to land a law school during its 41-year history. Meanwhile, UCI said it plans to look for a successor for Nicolaos Alexopoulos, dean of the Samueli School of Engineering. Alexopoulos, 64, has served as dean for a decade. He’s set to stay on as dean through June 2008 while the university looks for a replacement. During Alexopoulos’ tenure, the engineering school’s enrollment has almost doubled, to more than 2,700 students. The campus is planning to build Engineering 3, a $65.7 million, 122,500 research, teaching and office complex.
Foothill Ranch-based clothing retailer Wet Seal Inc. reported its second straight quarterly net profit on strong sales and lower debt expense. Wet Seal, which runs mall stores catering to teen girls and young women, reported net income of $2.4 million for the quarter ended Oct. 28, versus a loss of $6.5 million a year earlier. The company has lost money for the past two years as it worked through a turnaround that started in 2004. The latest quarterly profit includes $5.6 million in stock expenses and $100,000 in interest costs. Excluding those, profits were $8.1 million, in line with what analysts had expected. Sales were up 11% to $143.3 million.
ECONOMIC INDICATORS
Up: Passenger traffic at John Wayne Airport rose 1.4% in October from a year earlier, according to the airport, which saw 807,074 passengers in the month. Commercial flights rose 2.1%, while commuter flights were flat.
