EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Compiled by Mike Mason
TOP STORIES
Powerwave Technologies Inc. said it’s cutting 600 workers at its Santa Ana headquarters and production plant and plans to outsource its manufacturing operations to lower-cost Asian producers. The company, which makes power amplifiers for cell phone networks, also said it is selling $130 million in convertible bonds to raise cash to buy back shares and fund possible acquisitions. The five-year notes will convert at 10.49 a share. Shares of Powerwave were trading at 7.18 on Friday.
TECHNOLOGY
Shares of Aliso Viejo-based storage networking device maker QLogic Corp. fell 8% to 47.45 after the company said its first-quarter operating income rose 53% to $45.7 million, versus a year ago, on a 28% rise in sales to $126.2 million … Irvine-based eMachines Inc. said it’s on track to reach $1 billion in sales this year, up about 20% from a year ago … Aliso Viejo-based Buy.com Inc. said it plans to launch a music-download service, though it hasn’t yet received licensing rights from the major music companies. A $40 million Buy.com ad campaign is set to launch tomorrow at Times Square in New York … Nextel Communications Inc. postponed a decision on upping its investment in Irvine-based Boost Mobile LLC, a prepaid phone service geared to teens. Nextel previously said it would decide whether to invest more in Boost by the middle of the year.
HEALTHCARE
Shares of Costa Mesa-based Ribapharm Inc. fell 20% to 5.5 after a court ruled that proposed generic versions of its ribavirin drug won’t violate patents held by Ribapharm and its majority owner, ICN Pharmaceuticals Inc. Three generic drug makers plan to sell versions of the drug used to treat hepatitis C. The suit did not address the validity of the patents. ICN, which owns 80% of Ribapharm, said the ruling creates uncertainty about royalty income from the drug and that it might reconsider its plan to buyback the rest of Ribapharm stock. ICN and Ribapharm plan to appeal the ruling … Tustin-based Peregrine Pharmaceuticals Inc. said a drug compound the company licensed to SuperGen Inc. was found to slow growth of breast cancer tumors in mice in a study by the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas and the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center.
REAL ESTATE
Produce grower Gargiulo Inc. said it’s moving its tomato-growing operations to Oxnard from Irvine after Newport Beach-based The Irvine Company said it would develop about 60% of the land Gargiulo farmed here. During peak farming, Gargiulo, a unit of St. Louis-based Monsanto Corp., employed about 800 workers in Irvine.
FINANCE
Costa Mesa-based Westar Capital LLC said it plans to buy San Diego-based LifeCare Solutions West Inc. for about $3 million. LifeCare, a home healthcare provider, is in bankruptcy protection.
GOVERNMENT
Santa Ana property owners voted down a measure that would have raised taxes by an average $33 a year per homeowner. The city wanted to use the $3 million tax hike to pay for street and park improvements and graffiti removal … The Orange County Transportation Authority said it is raising peak-hour toll fees on the Riverside (91) Express Lanes by 75 cents to $5.50.
WHAT ELSE IS NEWS
Boeing Co. said it will take a $1.1 billion charge in the second quarter and stop looking for buyers for its Delta IV rocket amid a weak outlook for commercial satellite launches. Boeing’s Delta rocket operations are based in Huntington Beach. The company said it didn’t plan to cut any of the 1,300 workers in Surf City working on the Delta program … Aliso Viejo-based Fluor Corp. and the United Kingdom’s AMEC PLC won a deal to design an oil production facility off Australia’s coast. The pact could be worth $58 million. Partners Fluor and AMEC also have formed a venture to bid on oil industry rebuilding work in Iraq … Irvine-based Taco Bell, a unit of Louisville-based YUM! Brands Inc., will get a new trial after losing an $800,000 wrongful termination suit to former manager Michael Osogwin. A judge found there was insufficient evidence to support the jury’s verdict in ruling for the new trial. Calgary’s Global Thermoelectric Inc. said it received a higher bid than the $75 million stock offer from Irvine-based Quantum Fuel Systems Technologies Worldwide Inc. … Struggling Santa Fe Springs-based sneaker maker Vans Inc. said it plans to close most of its 11 skateboarding parks. Its park at the Block of Orange is expected to stay open … A federal judge ruled that a fight over the “Roxy” trademark should go to a jury trial. Los Angeles-based Kymsta Corp. said it should have rights to the Roxy name while Huntington Beach-based Quiksilver Inc. claims it owns the Roxy label for its line of girls clothing … Costa Mesa-based Ceradyne Inc. won a $7.1 million contract for its ceramic armor from the Army … Foothill Ranch-based Oakley Inc. said record rainfall and cool weather put a freeze on sales in the second quarter. The sunglass maker said operating profit in the quarter fell 18% to $28.4 million, versus a year ago, on a 1% decline in sales to $143.8 million … Irvine-based Meade Instruments Corp. said losses in the first quarter won’t dampen its expectation for profitability in 2004. The maker of binoculars and telescopes said its first-quarter operating loss widened to $966,000, versus a loss of $595,000 a year ago, on a 22% rise in sales to $24.5 million. About $7 million of Meade’s sales came from a recent acquisition.
ECONOMIC INDICATORS
Mixed: The Orange County jobs picture in June, with total nonfarm jobs down 0.5% to 1,408,000, versus a year ago, but the unemployment rate down 0.4% to 3.9%, according to the state Employment Development Department.
Up: OC’s manufacturing sector in the second quarter, with the purchasing managers composite index rising to 52.3, versus 51.8 in the first quarter and 49.8 a year ago, according to Chapman University.
