January 27, 2017 at 9:31 p.m.
Winchester paper scaling back
Business Roundup
The News-Gazette of Winchester is switching from six-day-a-week publication to twice weekly.
Readers were informed of the change this week. The change is effective next week.
“We’ve tried to be your scrapbook and you have been our faithful friend along a winding road of change,” the newspaper said in a statement to readers. “Today, we come to yet another fork in our road together. Starting next week, the newspaper will be published on Tuesdays and Thursdays. We regret this change in our delivery, but rising costs, a changing advertising market and the impact of electronic media leave us with no choice.”
The News-Times of Hartford City made the switch from a daily to a weekly publication last year. Both papers are owned by Community Media Group, based in Illinois.
In addition to cutting back to twice a week, the newspaper’s statement indicated there would be a price increase.
The Commercial Review, which is locally owned, will continue to publish on a six-day-a-week basis and foresees no change in that situation, publisher Jack Ronald said.
Mayor speaks
Dunkirk Mayor Gene Ritter will deliver his community’s State of the City address at the Jay County Chamber of Commerce’s networking breakfast at 7:30 a.m. Feb. 8. The event will be held at the West Jay Community Center.
Cost of the breakfast is $5, and reservations are necessary by Monday, Feb. 6. To make a reservation, contact the chamber at (260) 726-4481 or via email at [email protected].
Good quarter
Allegheny Technologies Inc., parent company of Portland Forge, reported a strong fourth quarter, with net income of $9.9 million. That compares with a loss for the same period a year ago.
ATI reported a profit of 9 cents per share. Revenues for the period were $796.1 million.
For the year, the company reported a loss of $640.9 million, The Associated Press reported.
Another merger
First Merchants Bank and The Arlington Bank announced this week they have executed a definitive merger agreement.
Founded in 1998, and based in Upper Arlington, Ohio, The Arlington Bank operates three banking center locations in the Columbus, Ohio area. It has total assets of $305 million, total loans of $244 million, and total deposits of $260 million.
The merger agreement provides that the shareholders of The Arlington Bank will receive 2.7245 shares of First Merchants Common Stock for each share of The Arlington Bank Common Stock, according to a press release.
The merger is expected to be completed mid-year 2017 subject to the
See Business page 6
approval of The Arlington Bank shareholders, regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions.
Based upon current financials, The Arlington Bank and First Merchants
See Business page 6
will have combined assets of $7.4 billion and First Merchants will remain the second largest financial holding company headquartered in Indiana.
The combined bank will have 109 offices in 27 Indiana counties, as well as two counties in both Ohio and Illinois.
New customers
Comcast Corp. reported fourth quarter results that showed an increase in its net number of video customers.
The company announced a 15-percent dividend increase and a plan to buy back another $5 billion in stock this year.
Comcast also plans a two-for-one stock split next month.
Fourth quarter net income was $2.3 billion or 95 cents per share, up from about $2 billion a year ago. Revenue totaled $21 billion.
Top grower
Red Gold, which has a tomato processing plant in Geneva, has honored its top growers of the year at its annual grower banquet in Indianapolis.
Iott Ranch and Orchard of Petersburg came away with the title Red Gold Master Grower, while Middlesworth Farms of Marion was named Grower of the Year, receiving the E.A. Reichart Quality Achievement Award.
Still growing
Dollar General’s chief executive officer told investment journalists this month he expects the company to continue to grow in 2017.
“In 2017, we plan to accelerate our square footage to about 7.5 percent,” the company’s Todd Vasos said on the company’s third-quarter 2016 earnings call. “Our 2017 pipeline is essentially complete as we continue to plan for about 1,000 new store openings.”
All of those openings will take place in the United States; the chain only operates domestically, Vasos noted.
The company added about 900 new stores in 2016 and revamped about that many at existing locations.
In Finland
Motherson Sumi Systems Ltd., parent company of MSSL Wiring Systems of Portland, the former Alphabet/JCI wiring harness plant, has agreed to acquire PKC Group of Finland, The India Times reported this week.
The company hopes to acquire the Finnish wiring harness operation by the end of March.
“The prospect of two global teams coming together and the synergies that will be brought about, is very exciting to us,” MSSL chairman Vivek Chaand Sehgal told The India Times. “It will allow us to create huge value for our customers and service our customers in additional locations in the world.”
Not yet closed
The big merger between Walgreens Boots Alliance and Rite Aid Corp. still has not closed, but Reuters reported this week that chief executive Stefano Pessina is pressing on with the deal.
In a review for the annual shareholders meeting, Pessina did not go into detail but said, “The only thing I can repeat is that we are actively engaged in dialogue with the FTC (Federal Trade Commission) and we are doing everything we can to support their work.”
Pessina said Walgreens was also talking to Rite Aid.
“These discussions include taking into account anything required to gain approval for the transaction,” he said.
It could take two months for the agency to assess a proposed divestiture of that size since it would look at the proposed sales, store by store, and in detail, David Balto, a former FTC official now in private practice, told Reuters
“Retail market divestitures are very complex. It’s unrealistic to assume that they could get through a divestiture that’s this significant in a few weeks,” Balto told Reuters.
Annual meeting
Tyson Foods Inc., parent company of Tyson Mexican Original in Portland, will webcast its annual shareholders meeting at 11 a.m. Feb. 9.
To listen to the live webcast or a replay, go to the company’s investor website at http://ir.tyson.com.
Readers were informed of the change this week. The change is effective next week.
“We’ve tried to be your scrapbook and you have been our faithful friend along a winding road of change,” the newspaper said in a statement to readers. “Today, we come to yet another fork in our road together. Starting next week, the newspaper will be published on Tuesdays and Thursdays. We regret this change in our delivery, but rising costs, a changing advertising market and the impact of electronic media leave us with no choice.”
The News-Times of Hartford City made the switch from a daily to a weekly publication last year. Both papers are owned by Community Media Group, based in Illinois.
In addition to cutting back to twice a week, the newspaper’s statement indicated there would be a price increase.
The Commercial Review, which is locally owned, will continue to publish on a six-day-a-week basis and foresees no change in that situation, publisher Jack Ronald said.
Mayor speaks
Dunkirk Mayor Gene Ritter will deliver his community’s State of the City address at the Jay County Chamber of Commerce’s networking breakfast at 7:30 a.m. Feb. 8. The event will be held at the West Jay Community Center.
Cost of the breakfast is $5, and reservations are necessary by Monday, Feb. 6. To make a reservation, contact the chamber at (260) 726-4481 or via email at [email protected].
Good quarter
Allegheny Technologies Inc., parent company of Portland Forge, reported a strong fourth quarter, with net income of $9.9 million. That compares with a loss for the same period a year ago.
ATI reported a profit of 9 cents per share. Revenues for the period were $796.1 million.
For the year, the company reported a loss of $640.9 million, The Associated Press reported.
Another merger
First Merchants Bank and The Arlington Bank announced this week they have executed a definitive merger agreement.
Founded in 1998, and based in Upper Arlington, Ohio, The Arlington Bank operates three banking center locations in the Columbus, Ohio area. It has total assets of $305 million, total loans of $244 million, and total deposits of $260 million.
The merger agreement provides that the shareholders of The Arlington Bank will receive 2.7245 shares of First Merchants Common Stock for each share of The Arlington Bank Common Stock, according to a press release.
The merger is expected to be completed mid-year 2017 subject to the
See Business page 6
approval of The Arlington Bank shareholders, regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions.
Based upon current financials, The Arlington Bank and First Merchants
See Business page 6
will have combined assets of $7.4 billion and First Merchants will remain the second largest financial holding company headquartered in Indiana.
The combined bank will have 109 offices in 27 Indiana counties, as well as two counties in both Ohio and Illinois.
New customers
Comcast Corp. reported fourth quarter results that showed an increase in its net number of video customers.
The company announced a 15-percent dividend increase and a plan to buy back another $5 billion in stock this year.
Comcast also plans a two-for-one stock split next month.
Fourth quarter net income was $2.3 billion or 95 cents per share, up from about $2 billion a year ago. Revenue totaled $21 billion.
Top grower
Red Gold, which has a tomato processing plant in Geneva, has honored its top growers of the year at its annual grower banquet in Indianapolis.
Iott Ranch and Orchard of Petersburg came away with the title Red Gold Master Grower, while Middlesworth Farms of Marion was named Grower of the Year, receiving the E.A. Reichart Quality Achievement Award.
Still growing
Dollar General’s chief executive officer told investment journalists this month he expects the company to continue to grow in 2017.
“In 2017, we plan to accelerate our square footage to about 7.5 percent,” the company’s Todd Vasos said on the company’s third-quarter 2016 earnings call. “Our 2017 pipeline is essentially complete as we continue to plan for about 1,000 new store openings.”
All of those openings will take place in the United States; the chain only operates domestically, Vasos noted.
The company added about 900 new stores in 2016 and revamped about that many at existing locations.
In Finland
Motherson Sumi Systems Ltd., parent company of MSSL Wiring Systems of Portland, the former Alphabet/JCI wiring harness plant, has agreed to acquire PKC Group of Finland, The India Times reported this week.
The company hopes to acquire the Finnish wiring harness operation by the end of March.
“The prospect of two global teams coming together and the synergies that will be brought about, is very exciting to us,” MSSL chairman Vivek Chaand Sehgal told The India Times. “It will allow us to create huge value for our customers and service our customers in additional locations in the world.”
Not yet closed
The big merger between Walgreens Boots Alliance and Rite Aid Corp. still has not closed, but Reuters reported this week that chief executive Stefano Pessina is pressing on with the deal.
In a review for the annual shareholders meeting, Pessina did not go into detail but said, “The only thing I can repeat is that we are actively engaged in dialogue with the FTC (Federal Trade Commission) and we are doing everything we can to support their work.”
Pessina said Walgreens was also talking to Rite Aid.
“These discussions include taking into account anything required to gain approval for the transaction,” he said.
It could take two months for the agency to assess a proposed divestiture of that size since it would look at the proposed sales, store by store, and in detail, David Balto, a former FTC official now in private practice, told Reuters
“Retail market divestitures are very complex. It’s unrealistic to assume that they could get through a divestiture that’s this significant in a few weeks,” Balto told Reuters.
Annual meeting
Tyson Foods Inc., parent company of Tyson Mexican Original in Portland, will webcast its annual shareholders meeting at 11 a.m. Feb. 9.
To listen to the live webcast or a replay, go to the company’s investor website at http://ir.tyson.com.
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