Business briefs, September 13

Published September 13, 2006 at midnight

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NATIONAL

Kroger posts increase in profit for quarter

Cincinnati-based Kroger Co., which operates King Soopers and City Market stores in Colorado, said Tuesday its profit rose 6 percent in its second quarter, helped by a 9 percent jump in overall sales.

Same-store sales rose 7.9 percent including fuel, 6 percent without fuel, the company said.

Kroger reported net earnings of $209 million, or 29 cents a share, on sales of $15.1 billion for the quarter ended Aug. 12, compared with $196.5 million, or 27 cents a share, on sales of $13.9 billion in the same period last year.

Comcast takes first in Yankee Group survey

Comcast, which has 800,000 subscribers in Colorado, placed first in small- to medium-sized business Internet access for the second consecutive year in a survey by research firm the Yankee Group.

Comcast edged out Verizon and SBC in the survey conducted last year of nearly 760 businesses, which the Yankee Group defined as ranging from two to 499 employees.

No criminal charges for Freddie Mac

Mortgage finance giant Freddie Mac will not face criminal charges in connection with its multibillion-dollar accounting scandal, the company said Tuesday.

The Justice Department has been investigating the accounting of the government-sponsored company, which is the second-largest financer of home loans in the country, since it disclosed in June 2003 that it had misstated earnings by some $5 billion for 2000-02.

WORLD

Aer Lingus plans

$858 million IPO

Aer Lingus, Ireland's state-controlled airline, and the government plan to raise $858 million in an initial public offering this month to help fund an expansion of the 70-year-old carrier's fleet.

The sale includes 208.4 million new shares and 72.7 million now held by the government, the Dublin- based airline said.

LOCAL

Frontier receives OK for L.A.-Cabo serivce

Frontier Airlines has received final federal approval to fly between Los Angeles and Cabo San Lucas, Mexico.

The Denver-based carrier will start flying between the cities Dec. 9 with Airbus A319 planes. Tickets are on sale now.

Frontier will start several other new routes to Mexico this winter.

Rigas brothers to get $600,000 for legal fees

Members of Adelphia Communications Corp.'s founding Rigas family on Tuesday received another $600,000 disbursement of insurance proceeds to cover their defense costs.

An order from Judge Robert E. Gerber of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Manhattan allows Adelphia's insurer to advance an additional $300,000 each for James and Michael Rigas.

Dell to open kiosk at FlatIron Crossing

Dell Inc. was set to open its first Colorado kiosk today at Broomfield's FlatIron Crossing.

Called Direct Stores, the kiosks offer customers a chance to experiment with the different computers and gadgets and get advice from company representatives, before ordering them online from the kiosk.

The store won't stock computers or components, Dell said.

Auraria buys wind power for next 3 years

The Auraria Higher Education Center in Denver will purchase 17 million kilowatt hours per year of nationally sourced wind energy over the next three years.

Auraria Campus students voted in April 2004 to approve a clean-energy referendum and have paid an additional $1 fee per semester since fall 2004 to fund the clean energy purchase.

The purchase represents 45 percent of annual electricity use on the campus, which serves three institutions - Community College of Denver, Metropolitan State College of Denver, and the University of Colorado at Denver and Health Sciences Center Downtown Denver Campus.

Loft project planned for homeless, working poor

The Colorado Coalition for the Homeless and Renaissance Housing Development on Tuesday unveiled plans for a $12 million, 100-unit loft-style project at 3500 Park Avenue West in downtown Denver for the homeless and working poor.

The Renaissance Riverfront Lofts, designed by Christopher Carvell Architects, will provide about 40 percent of the units for the formerly homeless served by the coalition. The other units will be for households at 50 percent of the area median income, or $30,000. Monthly rents will range from $100 for disabled renters to $600, said John Parvensky, head of the coalition.

Denver Newspaper Agency names CFO

David F. Licko, an accomplished executive with more than 30 years experience in the newspaper industry, has been named senior vice president/finance and chief financial officer of the Denver Newspaper Agency, to take effect Oct. 2.

Licko, 59, comes to Denver from Indianapolis, where he served as senior vice president/finance and group controller for Indianapolis Newspapers with responsibilities for five newspapers in Indiana, plus 16 other newspaper properties in 11 states.

The Denver Newspaper Agency was formed in a 2001 joint operating agreement by E. W. Scripps Co., which owns the Rocky Mountain News, and MediaNews Group, which owns The Denver Post. The companies take an equal share of profits from the agency and pay for their newsroom costs separately.

The news departments of each paper are independent.

Drive Insurance to cut some premiums by 5%

Drive Insurance, underwritten by Progressive Insurance and sold through agents, is lowering auto insurance premiums in Colorado by an average of 5.2 percent for new and existing customers effective Sept. 6 and Oct. 16, respectively.

The rate reduction is a statewide average that will affect individual customers differently.

Drive Insurance also offers two new discounts: a 5 percent discount to customers who pay via electronic funds transfer and a program that rewards safe driving with up to 7 percent off the premium.

Ski visits up 8% at Copper, Winter Park

Copper Mountain and Winter Park ski resorts "benefited from the best snow conditions in many years" last season, a factor boosting skier visits at the two resorts by a combined 8 percent, Canada's Intrawest Corp. said in its financial report for its fiscal year ended June 30.

In all, Intrawest said its ski resorts drew seven million visits in fiscal 2006, representing about 9 percent of the North American market.

ECONOMY

Trade gap widens as oil rises, exports slip

The U.S. trade balance deteriorated at a surprising rate in July as the price of foreign oil climbed to a record and exports slipped for the first time in five months.

The U.S. deficit in international trade of goods and services increased by 5.0 percent to $68.04 billion from $64.82 billion in June, the Commerce Department said Tuesday. June's shortfall was previously estimated at $64.80 billion. The July imbalance surpassed the monthly record of $66.6 billion set last October. U.S. exports decreased by 1.1 percent to $119.97 billion in July from $121.25 billion in June. The dip was the first since February.

The July trade deficit was higher than Wall Street expected. The median estimate of 22 economists surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires was a deficit of $65.50 billion.

So far this year, the deficit is running at an annual rate of $776 billion, putting the country on course to rack up a record annual deficit for the fifth straight year. Democrats, campaigning for control of Congress in the November elections, hope voters will view the soaring trade deficits as evidence that President Bush's trade policies aren't working.

Export sales tumbled by $1.3 billion for capital goods, including computers. Exports decreased by $593 million for industrial materials. Exports of foods and beverages decreased by $31 million. Sales of autos and parts climbed by $670 million. Exports of consumer goods such as clothing and records were up $163 million.

U.S. imports grew by 1 percent in July to $188.01 billion from $186.06 billion. The volume of crude oil imports decreased, down to 321.58 million barrels from 330.86 million, but the average price of a barrel of crude rose by $2.80, to a record $64.84. The value of crude oil imports increased in July to $20.85 billion from $20.53 billion in June.

THIS JUST IN...

• United Western Bancorp Inc., formerly Matrix Bancorp Inc., said it has appointed Coleen C. Merritt to the newly created post of senior vice president for its treasury sales and services department of United Western Bank.

• Colorado State University accounting students Victor Amaya, Leanne Eberle, Pablo Machado and Jessica Zavala took second place at the national KPMG/ALPFA (Association for Latino Professionals in Finance and Accounting) business case competition.

• The Tivoli Lodge in Vail will hold a grand reopening this weekend. The property has undergone two years of remodeling and construction.

• Louisville-based Medivance Inc.'s Arctic Sun therapeutic temperature management system was named a runner-up in The Wall Street Journal's 2006 Technology Innovation Awards.

• Greenwood Village-based Red Robin Gourmet Burgers Inc., an Outback Steakhouse in Fort Collins, MiCasa Mexican Restaurant in Breckenridge and Andy Holland, general manager of an Applebee's restaurant in Aurora, won this year's Restaurant Neighbor Awards from the Colorado Restaurant Association.

• Broomfield-based MWH said it has been selected by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Omaha District to provide engineering and construction services to the U.S. Air Force. MWH is one of several companies that will provide services under combined contracts of $345 million.

• Greenwood Village-based First Data Corp. and Chase Paymentech Solutions announced a five-year global e-commerce payment processing agreement.

• Boulder-based Dynamic Materials Corp. said its Explosive Metalworking business has received two contracts valued at $8.7 million. The contracts call for the production of explosion-welded plates to be used in a major nickel hydrometallurgy project in Madagascar.

• For the fifth year in a row, CoBiz Inc., a financial services company based in Denver, has made a $100 donation in each employee's name to a charity of his or her choice. This year, $40,600 was donated to organizations in Colorado and nationwide.

• The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration has recognized the employees of Raytheon in Aurora for exemplary achievement in their workplace safety and health program. The software-development site was designated a Star site, the highest level of recognition that OSHA's Voluntary Protection Programs offer.

• JohnstonWells Public Relations in Denver has acquired Center Reach Communications, previously owned by Tracy Aiello, a former partner in the firm Wall + Aiello Public Relations. The addition will add about $250,000 to JohnstonWells' estimated $2 million 2006 revenue, Aiello said.

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

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