ECONOMIC INDICATORS
Down: Financial stability, as 48% more OC individuals and businesses filed for bankruptcy protection in Septem-ber versus a year earlier.
Mixed: Jobs, as Cal State Fullerton economists predict 58,300 job losses in 2009 but see a slight rebound in 2010.
TOP STORIES
Irvine-based luxury hybrid automaker Fisker Automotive Inc. plans to spend nearly $200 million to acquire and fix up a Delaware plant to produce a family-oriented sedan by 2012. The company is paying $18 million for a former General Motors Corp. plant in Wilmington. It plans to spend $175 million refurbishing the factory in the next few years. In September, Fisker received approval for $528.7 million in federal loans to develop its cars that run off a combination electric and gas engine.
Irvine-based Resources Connection Inc. is acquiring crisis public relations firm Sitrick and Co. and restructuring consultant Brincko Associates Inc. for $43 million in cash and stock. Resources, a provider of accountants and other professionals to companies on a project basis, plans to combine the two companies to create a corporate advisory and restructuring subsidiary called Sitrick Brincko Group LLC. Famed crisis manager Michael Sitrick, who counts Broadcom Corp. cofounder Henry Nicholas, among others, as clients, is set to head the subsidiary. The acquisition is set to close by the end of November.
TECHNOLOGY
Santa Ana’s Ingram Micro Inc. reported third-quarter results late last week that were down from a year earlier but beat Wall Street’s expectations. The technology products distributor gave a cautiously optimistic outlook without financial specifics. Ingram reported sales of $7.4 billion, down 11% from a year earlier and beating analysts’ expected $6.6 billion in sales. The company posted profits before charges of $47 million, down 17% and surpassing the $33 million in profits expected by analysts.
Microsemi Corp. is closing an Arizona plant and cutting 200 to 300 jobs in a move that the Irvine chipmaker said expects to save it $20 million to $25 million a year. The company plans to close its Scottsdale plant by 2011, which will lower the amount of chips its produces and move some work to other sites, likely in California and Massachusetts. The company expects to incur charges of up to $29 million for the closure.
Newport Beach chipmaker Mindspeed Technologies Inc. upped its outlook for the current quarter. For the three months through December, Mindspeed said it expects sales of $36.1 million to $37.5 million, besting the $35 million that analysts had been expecting. It did not give a profit outlook. The rosier view comes on the heels of Mindspeed’s results for the September quarter, in which it narrowed its loss to $77,000 from $2 million a year earlier, breaking even sooner than Wall Street had expected.
HEALTHCARE
Irvine-based Allergan Inc. reported a third-quarter profit of $214.2 million that met Wall Street expectations. It also upped its profit forecast for the current quarter to $229.5 million to $235.6 million on revenue of $1.11 billion to $1.16 billion. The company’s third-quarter sales came in at $1.13 billion, up 4% from a year earlier and beating Wall Street’s projection of $1.08 billion. The sales gain was carried by eye drugs and a rebound in Botox sales.
REAL ESTATE
Irvine-based developer and homebuilder California Coastal Communities Inc. filed for bankruptcy largely to extend its time to pay off debt related to its Brightwater project in Huntington Beach. Ten affiliates of the company, including its Hearthside Homes Inc. and Signal Landmark subsidiaries, also filed for bankruptcy protection.
Irvine-based Standard Pacific Corp. reported a third-quarter loss of $23.8 million—dramatically narrowed from a $370 million loss a year earlier—after seeing revenue fall 18%. Through a series of transactions in the quarter, the builder said it reduced debt set to mature before 2013 from $528 million to $180 million.
EDUCATION
Santa Ana-based vocational school operator Corinthian Colleges Inc. reported results for the September quarter that beat Wall Street expectations and upped its guidance for the current quarter and the 12 months through June. Corinthian reported a profit of $32.7 million for the recently ended quarter, up more than 500% from a year earlier and topping the $24.8 million analysts were expecting on average. Revenue was $388.5 million, up 34% from a year earlier and topping the $378 million expected by analysts.
California State University, Fullerton, will receive $1.6 million in federal stimulus money that will allow it to reinstate 264 courses and rehire some professors this spring. Officials plan to spend the money on classes needed by students to graduate. The courses and jobs could be lost next fall without additional funding.
APPAREL
Costa Mesa-based clothing designer Volcom Inc. reported a third-quarter profit of $13.3 million and sales of $93.9 million that beat Wall Street expectations, but warned about profits for the current quarter—a critical one for clothing companies and retailers with the holidays. Volcom forecast a profit of $246,000 to $980,000, lower than the $2.7 million analysts had been expecting.
OTHER NEWS
Former Orange County Register publisher Chris Anderson has been named publisher of The Oregonian. Anderson, who left the Register in 2007, grew up in eastern Oregon.
