Business briefs, September 22

Published September 22, 2006 at midnight

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NATIONAL

AOL to disband unit, hire privacy officer

AOL will disband its business unit that handled access subscriptions and give product managers more autonomy over designing services for consumers as the company increases its emphasis on generating advertising revenue.

AOL also will name its first chief privacy officer in the wake of a much-criticized disclosure of the search terms used by more than 650,000 subscribers.

The changes, outlined in a memo from Chief Executive Jonathan Miller to AOL employees, take effect in January and represent the first major restructuring since November 2004.

ConAgra posts 66% drop in quarterly profit

ConAgra Foods Inc. said Thursday that first-quarter profit from continuing operations fell 66 percent compared with the year-ago quarter that was boosted by a large gain from the sale of a stake in another company.

Profit from continuing operations for the quarter ended Aug. 27 totaled $108.5 million, or 21 cents per share, compared with a profit of $319.2 million, or 61 cents per share.

The latest results include a 5 cent per share charge from restructuring costs. Excluding that, the earnings of 26 cents a share beat analyst expectations of 23 cents per share, according to a survey by Thomson Financial.

Revenue edged up to $2.69 billion from $2.67 billion last year but was below analyst expectations of $2.75 billion.

• FedEx Corp., the world's largest air-cargo shipper, said its first-quarter profit rose 40 percent on more exports from China and economic growth in Asia.

Net income jumped to $475 million, or $1.53 a share, as sales rose 11 percent to $8.55 billion in the three months ended Aug. 31, FedEx said.

LOCAL

EBags No. 1 in growth among online retailers

Greenwood Village-based eBags topped the list of fast-growing online shopping destinations in August, fueled by back-to-school shopping, Nielsen Net//Ratings said.

Nielsen said eBags.com, an online bag retailer, attracted 1.3 million unique visitors, a 118 percent increase from July.

That easily put eBags No. 1, followed by such retailers as Office Max, L.L. Bean, Staples and Office Depot.

Kummer launches golf, home development

Hotel and construction magnate Fred Kummer on Thursday launched his 1,662-acre golf and custom home development Adam's Rib Ranch in Eagle. Kummer is owner of St. Louis-based HBE Corp., owner of the Adam's Mark chain of hotels.

There will be 99 custom home sites on the property, ranging from 3.5 acres to 985 acres. The development includes an 18-hole golf course designed by Tom Weiskopf.

IHS posts increases in profit, revenue

Arapahoe County-based IHS Inc., a provider of technical information and related services, on Thursday reported revenue of $139.9 million for the third quarter ended Aug. 31.

That was 19 percent higher than the company's revenue of $118 million in the third quarter of 2005.

Net income for the third quarter of 2006 increased $12.4 million to $16.1 million, or 28 cents a share, compared with income of $3.7 million, or 7 cents a share, a year earlier.

IHS also said Jerre Stead, executive chairman of the board, has assumed the additional role of CEO. Stead, 63, replaced Charles Picasso, who retired from the company.

Pediatrix to settle Medicaid billing case

Pediatrix, a Florida-based company that provides pediatric medical services in Colorado and other states, agreed to pay the federal government $25.1 million to settle claims it improperly billed Medicaid and other federal programs.

The U.S. Department of Justice obtained the settlement after an investigation conducted in part by the U.S. attorney's office in Colorado.

According to the settlement, Pediatrix improperly applied billing codes to neonatal services provided from January 1996 to December 1999.

Pediatrix paid the state of Colorado $1.3 million in April 2002 to settle charges over the same issue.

Urban Villages buys Wash Park apartments

Denver-based Urban Villages paid $4.5 million for a 10-story apartment building at East First Avenue and Grant Street in the West Washington Park Area.

Urban Villages, founded by Grant and Tom McCargo and William Fleissig, plans to renovate the building with retro appliances and has renamed it RW Flats.

Ex-mine workers arrested in gold theft

Cripple Creek & Victor Gold Mining Co. officials on Thursday confirmed three former employees of the mine have been arrested in connection with the theft of unprocessed gold from the mine.

The arrests were initiated by the district attorney in Colorado Springs. The alleged activities, which were discovered late last year, appear to have begun at least six years ago, the company said. Preliminary information indicates that thefts over this period may be in excess of $1 million, it added.

Casino revenue up 7.7% in August

The state's casinos collectively drew about $68.8 million in revenues last month, a gain of about 7.7 percent vs. a year ago, the Colorado gaming division reported Thursday.

Central City posted the biggest increase in August. Proceeds jumped 15 percent to about $7.1 million. Cripple Creek's casinos posted a 3.5 percent drop to about $13.5 million.

Black Hawk, which gets the lion's share of Colorado's gaming activity, saw revenues rise roughly 10 percent to more than $48 million.

CH2M Hill wins contract for base cleanup

CH2M Hill said it received a $21 million Air Force contract to perform environmental cleanup at Beale Air Force Base in California.

The project is scheduled to begin this month and run through November 2011, according to the Douglas County engineering and construction company.

Alternative fuels pumps open at Arvada station

Two new alternative fuels pumps opened Thursday at the Hill Petroleum Sinclair Oil Station in Arvada. The station will carry E85, a blended mixture of 85 percent ethanol and 15 percent unleaded gasoline, and biodiesel.

The cost to modify the existing fuel station with both E85 and biodiesel was approximately $100,000, of which the Governor's Office of Energy Management and Conservation paid $20,000.

EEOC charges Bellco with age discrimination

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission sued Bellco Credit Union, accusing it of age discrimination when it fired Frances Cruz at the age of 61.

The EEOC says Cruz worked for Bellco as a teller/cashier, receiving evaluations exceeding Bellco's standards and getting nominated for a President's Club Award.

The EEOC said Bellco terminated Cruz's employment for allegedly violating its check-handling policy. But the EEOC said its investigation found that younger, similarly situated employees were treated more favorably than Cruz and that several former managers at Bellco said they were told to "get rid of Cruz" and other older employees.

Bellco executives could not be reached for comment late Thursday.

ECONOMY

Economic index down slightly in August

A closely watched gauge of future economic activity slipped in August for the second consecutive month, suggesting that the U.S. economy is cooling.

The Conference Board, an industry- backed research group, said Thursday its Index of Leading Economic Indicators edged 0.2 percent lower to 137.6 last month. The decline matched analysts' expectations. The index also fell 0.2 percent in July after edging up 0.1 percent in June.

"It's a pretty small decline, but it's been a pretty steady decline," said Ken Goldstein, the Conference Board's labor economist.

Over the past six months, the index has fallen 0.6 percent. The index is designed to predict economic activity three to six months in the future.

The report offers another indication that U.S. economic growth will slow in the coming months.

"It's primarily driven by the weakness in housing," said Gary Thayer, chief economist at A.G. Edwards & Sons Inc. in St. Louis.

Building permits have taken a big drop this year, falling to 1.72 million in August from 1.76 million in July and from 2.14 million in February, the Conference Board's report said.

Three out of the 10 indicators that comprise the leading index increased in August - stock prices, real money supply, and manufacturers' new orders for consumer goods and materials.

Among the negative contributors were consumer expectations, building permits, average weekly manufacturing hours and interest rate spread.

• The Labor Department said 318,000 workers filed claims for jobless benefits, up by 7,000 from the 311,000 benefit applications filed the previous week.

It followed two weeks of small declines in claims and was the biggest increase since jobless claims had risen by 10,000 in the week ending Aug. 5.

THIS JUST IN...

• Metzger Associates, a public relations firm in Boulder, is celebrating 15 years of business.

• Denver-based Affordable Residential Communities Inc. said its board of directors declared a cash dividend of 52 cents on each share of its Series A Cumulative Redeemable Preferred Stock and a cash dividend of 39 cents per unit on the Series C Preferred Operating Partnership Units of Affordable Residential Communities LP. The dividends are payable on Oct. 30 to shareholders of record on Oct. 13.

• Denver-based Accelr8 Technology Corp. said it has been awarded a patent for devices that use its OptiChem surface chemistry, including those for patient specimen collection and analytical products.

• Littleton-based Time Warner Telecom Inc. announced the pricing of a public offering of 39,660,598 shares of its Class A common stock to be sold by subsidiaries of Time Warner Inc. and by Advance Telecom Holdings Corp. and Newhouse Telecom Holdings Corp. The stock will be sold to the public for $17.50 a share.

• The College of Engineering and Applied Science at the University of Colorado has committed to providing 10 four-year merit scholarships averaging $2,000 per year to 2007 graduates of the Pre-Engineering Academy at Lafayette's Centaurus High School. In 2008, the offering will grow to 16 scholarships.

• Broomfield Event Center, home to the 14ers, an NBA development league team, and the Rage, a Central Hockey League team, launched its advertising campaign based on the differences between major and minor league sports. The first ad features a baby sitting on a pile of money with the tag line "Don't support million dollar crybabies."

• Denver-based KFx Inc. said it has signed an agreement with Bechtel Power Corp. for plant engineering services and design of its K-Fuel and refined coal plants.

• The U.S. Election Assistance Commission has granted Denver-based SysTest Labs interim accreditation for voting system testing and qualification.

• Denver-based CQG has added its order routing services to provide trading access to the Singapore Exchange and the Sydney Futures Exchange.

• Denver-based Dividend Capital Total Realty Trust Inc. said its board of directors increased its quarterly dividend for its fourth quarter to 15 cents a share, up from 13.75 cents for the third quarter.

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

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