Business briefs, April 27

Thursday, April 27, 2006

NATIONAL

GE sees revenue growth in India, Middle East

General Electric Co. is growing rapidly around the world and could double its revenue in developing countries to $50 billion by 2010, the company's chief executive said Wednesday.

Revenue is growing at 20 percent annually in developing countries, which need infrastructure, financial investments and other products, Jeff Immelt, the company's chairman and chief executive, said at GE's annual shareholders meeting in Philadelphia.

In India, Fairfield, Conn.-based GE has set a target of $8 billion in revenue by 2010, up from about $1 billion now, Immelt said. In the Middle East, orders doubled to $8 billion last year from 2003, he said.

Microsoft to buy firm that puts ads in games

Microsoft Corp. plans to acquire Massive Inc., a closely held startup that places ads in video games, in a deal that highlights the growing flow of advertising into nontraditional media.

Massive, a two-year-old startup with 80 employees, is one of several companies pioneering the business of placing ads in video games.

Clients include Coca-Cola Co., Honda Motor Co. and other advertisers that are gradually increasing their spending on ads in video games. People familiar with the matter estimated the deal's value at $200 million to $400 million.

• Microsoft said it plans to spend $900 million in China over the next five years by purchasing local computer hardware and forming joint ventures and partnerships to boost the software maker's sales in the No. 2 computer market.

Anheuser-Busch profits flat in first quarter

Anheuser-Busch Cos. Inc., the nation's biggest brewer, said Wednesday its first-quarter profit was virtually unchanged from a year ago but that sales improved.

The St. Louis-based maker of Budweiser, Bud Light and other beers earned $499 million, or 64 cents a share, for the period ended March 31, compared with $500 million, or 64 cents a share, during the same quarter the previous year.

Gross revenue rose to $4.3 billion from $4.1 billion a year ago.

Analysts, on average, were looking for earnings of 56 cents a share, according to Thomson Financial.

• WellPoint Inc., the nation's largest health insurer, said its first-quarter profit grew 20 percent on the heels of its December acquisition of rival WellChoice Inc.

For the three-month period ended March 31, net income was $731.8 million, or $1.09 per share, compared with $611.7 million, or 98 cents per share, the year before. The latest quarter included 4 cents per share in stock-option costs and investment losses of 1 cent per share, while the prior-year quarter included tax benefits of about 4 cents per share.

Revenue for the Indianapolis- based company climbed 26 percent to $13.6 billion, as premium revenue was up 26 percent and administrative fees rose 34 percent.

On average, analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial forecast a quarterly profit of $1.07 per share, including stock-option expenses, and revenue of $13.8 billion.

Wellpoint is the parent company of Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield in Colorado, the state's second-largest health insurer with around 700,000 enrollees.

• New York-based PepsiCo Inc., the world's No. 2 soft-drink maker and owner of snack-maker Frito-Lay, said first-quarter profit rose 12 percent to $1.02 billion, or 60 cents per share, for the three months ended March 25 compared with $912 million, or 53 cents per share, during the same period last year. Revenue climbed 9.4 percent to $7.21 billion from $6.56 billion last year.

Analysts, on average, predicted a profit of 58 cents a share on revenue of $7.03 billion, according to a Thomson Financial poll.

LOCAL

Lockheed to take second look at venture

Lockheed Martin's board plans to weigh the pros and cons of its joint rocket venture with Boeing Co., given that U.S. regulators have yet to sign off on the venture a year after it was proposed.

The board has a regularly scheduled meeting today, ahead of the company's annual meeting. A spokesman said the joint venture - dubbed the United Launch Alliance - will be discussed.

Lockheed and Boeing are still awaiting approval from the Federal Trade Commission.

On Tuesday, Lockheed's chief financial officer, Christopher Ku-basik, told analysts in a quarterly conference call the board would review the matter.

ULA would be headquartered in Jefferson County. It's projected to bring 750 to 1,000 new jobs here.

Leeds business school to close for renovation

The Leeds School of Business building at the University of Colorado at Boulder will close May 12 for a yearlong renovation and expansion that will cost $33.3 million. Originally designed to serve 1,400 students when it opened in spring 1970, Leeds now serves more than twice that number, about 3,600.

Starz to offer Vongo to AT&T customers

Starz Entertainment Group's Internet movie service Vongo will be offered to AT&T high-speed Internet customers, marking Starz's first distribution deal with a broadband service provider for its recently launched movie service. Financial terms weren't disclosed.

Douglas County-based Starz, which is owned by John Malone's Liberty Media, launched the Vongo service in January. The movie service offers more than 1,500 films and streaming of the Starz TV channel for $9.99 a month, with pay-per-movies costing an additional $3.99.

Resolute, Navajo Nation complete asset deal

Denver-based Resolute Natural Resources Co. and Navajo Nation Oil and Gas Co. of Window Rock, Ariz., on Wednesday said they have completed the purchase of ExxonMobil's assets in the greater Aneth field in southeast Utah.

Resolute acquired 75 percent of the ExxonMobil assets and NOG acquired 25 percent.

The companies have 359 producing wells and 289 injection wells in the Aneth, McElmo Creek and Ratherford fields.

Craig protests BLM's removal of land parcels

The city of Craig and some residents of northwestern Colorado filed a formal protest Wednesday, asking the Bureau of Land Management to remove select parcels from the May 11 oil and gas drilling lease sale.

The parcels include land that Craig plans to develop for recreational opportunities as well as parcels near Elkhead Reservoir. It also includes thousands of acres of public lands undergoing Resource Management Plan revisions - a federally managed process that, once complete, serves as management guidelines for public lands, the coalition said.

The May lease sale will be one of the largest on record for Colorado and includes more land than all four sales for 2005 combined - 191,000 acres for 2005 compared with 195,000 acres slated for sale in May.

Longtime furniture store closing its doors

Michael Handler Fine Home Furnishings is closing its flagship store at 2665 S. Colorado Blvd. A liquidation sale will begin Friday.

The company could not be reached for comment late Wednesday, but a voice message at the store said the company is closing its doors and would focus on its window treatment and design business.

The company's roots in Denver go back 50 years.

Children's Hospital to close Aurora clinic

Children's Hospital will close its after-hours urgent care clinic at 13650 E. Mississippi Ave. in Aurora on June 30. Patients will be referred to the hospital's downtown Denver emergency room and to the emergency department at Parker Adventist Hospital.

ECONOMYHome sales climb, but prices take a hit

Sales of new homes soared in March by the largest amount in 13 years, reflecting a rebound from bad weather in February. But the median price of homes sold last month declined, providing evidence that the nation's five-year housing boom is slowing.

The Commerce Department reported that sales of new single-family homes rose 13.8 percent last month to a seasonally adjusted annual sales rate of 1.213 million units. The increase represented a recovery from a 10.9 percent plunge in sales in February.

But the median price of homes sold in March dropped to $224,200, down 2.2 percent from what homes were selling for in March 2005. It marked the first time home prices dropped over a 12-month period since December 2003.

The median price, the point where half the homes sold for more and half for less, also showed a decline in March when compared with February, falling by 6.5 percent.

• Orders to U.S. factories for big-ticket manufactured goods soared in March by the largest amount in 10 months, reflecting a big increase in demand for civilian aircraft.

The 6.1 percent increase in orders for durable goods followed a 2.7 percent rise in March. It was the biggest advance since a 7.3 percent increase in May 2005 and was more than three times the 1.8 percent increase that Wall Street had been expecting.

Two-thirds of the gain reflected a 71.1 percent jump in demand for commercial aircraft.

Manufacturing has been helped by efforts to restock lean inventories and a desire on the part of many companies to purchase new equipment to expand and modernize.

THIS JUST IN...

• Denver-based Qwest Communications International Inc. said it signed a contract with the Management Council of the Ohio Education Computing Network. Qwest will be the designated statewide Internet provider to the Ohio K-12 network using Qwest iQ Networking, a wide-area network service.

• Denver-based Rivet Software, an innovator in Financial Integrity Management and XBRL solutions, said Robert Rohan has joined its management team as executive vice president.

• Denver-based HyperSpace Communications Inc. said it has secured a $5 million bridge loan from existing investors and has retained an additional investment bank to act as a placement agent in connection with a potential private placement of up to $25 million.

• Kathleen Quinn Votaw, CEO and founder of Denver Executive Search, and Jenifer Madson, author of A Financial Minute: From Money Madness to Financial Freedom, One Minute at a Time, each won a "Women of Achievement Award" from the Association for Women in Communications Denver Chapter.

• Broomfield-based Ball Corp.'s board of directors Wednesday elected two of the company's officers to executive vice president positions. The board also declared a cash dividend of 10 cents a share. Raymond J. Seabrook and David A. Westerlund had been senior vice presidents at Ball. Seabrook is now executive vice president and chief financial officer. Westerlund is executive vice president, administration and corporate secretary.

• Denver-based Rentech Inc. said Wednesday it has completed the purchase of Illinois-based Royster-Clark Nitrogen Inc. from Royster-Clark Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Agrium Inc., for about $70 million.

• Denver-based Galaxy Energy Corp. said it has closed a $4.5 million private placement of subordinated convertible debentures with institutional and other accredited investors.

• The board of directors of Denver-based Newmont Mining Corp. declared a regular quarterly dividend of 10 cents a share, payable June 29 to holders of record at the close of business June 8.

• Jim Franklin, CEO of Denver-based Decisioneering Inc., a provider of software and services for risk analysis, has been selected by the speaker board of ReedLogic as a leader in the business intelligence software industry and as a keynote speaker in the Business Intelligence Software Leadership Conference.

Compiled from News staff, The Associated Press, Bloomberg News, Scripps Howard News Service.