New Bedford, Mass.-based Seacoast Financial Services Corporation, the holding company for CompassBank and Nantucket Bank, recently announced consolidated net income of $9,284,000 or $.39 per diluted share for the quarter ended June 30, 2002, a 32.6 percent increase in earnings when compared to consolidated net income of $7,001,000, or $.29 per diluted share for the quarter ended June 30, 2001.
The bank’s board of directors announced a quarterly cash dividend of $.11 per share, a 10 percent increase from the prior quarterly dividend. The dividend is payable on August 23, 2002 to stockholders of record on August 9, 2002.
For the six months ended June 30, consolidated net income was $18,158,000, or $.77 per diluted share, compared to $13,732,000, or $.58 per diluted share for the same period in the prior year. Included in net income for the six months ended June 30, 2001 was a non-recurring tax benefit of $432,000. Exclusive of this item, net income in 2002 represented an increase of 36.5 percent in core earnings on a year over year basis. Nantucket Bank, acquired on December 31, 2000 and included in the company’s results of operations beginning in 2001, contributed approximately $2,394,000 or 13.2 percent of the year to date earnings. (Business Wire)
Rhode Island's Market Has Changed. Developers, Builders, Investors and Sellers Must Change With It.
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Tweeter cuts about 240
jobs as profits plung
Tweeter Home Entertainment Group Inc., based in Canton, Mass., said it cut about 240 jobs, or 6 percent of its work force, as the electronic retailer’s third-quarter profit plunged 96 percent because of higher costs.
The positions were eliminated through attrition and firings that took place last week, the company said in a statement. Net income for the quarter ended June 30 dropped to $103,000, or breakeven on a per-share basis, from $2.47 million, or 13 cents, a year earlier.
The retailer had higher occupancy costs and bank fees, and paid more in compensation, Tweeter said in the statement. Sales in the quarter rose 59 percent to $175.3 million from $110 million. The company said it will have $1.5 million in fourth-quarter costs for the job cuts, which are expected to save about $5.5 million a year. (Bloomberg News)
Clear Channel has second-quarter
profit of $238 million
Clear Channel Communications Inc., the largest U.S. radio company with several Rhode Island radio stations, had second-quarter earnings of $238 million after an accounting change reduced acquisition-related expenses. Sales were little changed.
The company, in a statement, gave a forecast for earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization for this quarter and the full year that missed some analysts’ forecasts.
Clear Channel’s stock has declined 52 percent in the past two months, erasing more than $16 billion in market value, amid investor concern that a rebound in advertising sales is faltering, analysts have said. Last month, the company removed Randy Michaels as chief executive officer of the radio division, reassigning him to another business unit.
"This economy is not out of the woods yet, as evidenced by the under whelming outlook for Clear Channel," said Jordan Rohan, an analyst at SoundView Technology Group who has an "outperform" rating on the stock and doesn’t own any shares himself. (Bloomberg News)
Genuity defaults as Verizon
abandons purchase option
Woburn, Mass.-based Genuity Inc. defaulted on $3 billion in loans after Verizon Communications Inc. decided not to buy back a controlling stake in the money-losing data-network operator. Genuity shares plunged as much as 83 percent when it was announced on July 26.
Verizon, the biggest U.S. local-telephone operator, won’t increase its stake to 80 percent from 10 percent, the company said in a statement. The decision may prompt faster repayment of loans,said Genuity spokesman John Vincenzo. He wouldn’t elaborate.
Genuity is in talks with the lenders — Verizon and a group of banks — to review the agreements.
Genuity, a seller of data and Internet services to businesses, was spun off from GTE Corp. in 2000 to win regulatory approval of Bell Atlantic Corp.’s merger with GTE. Verizon, the product of the combination, had the option to reacquire Genuity by 2005 after gaining approval to sell long-distance in more states.
“Without Verizon’s backing, Genuity may not be long for this world,’’ said Patrick Comack, a Guzman & Co. analyst who dropped coverage on Genuity this year. He has an “outperform’’ rating on Verizon shares. (Bloomberg News)
GTECH poised to get California
contract
GTECH, based in West Greenwich, announced that the company has been selected by the California Lottery as the apparent successful bidder to provide equipment and services for a new integrated online and instant-ticket lottery system, and associated telecommunications network. The California Lottery will present its recommendation to the state’s lottery commission on Aug. 15.
California’s request for proposal calls for the replacement of the California Lottery’s existing system with new central system hardware and software. In addition, the lottery intends to replace its current terminal equipment and communications network.
Further details, including the worth of the contract, will be disclosed upon the company’s signing of a definitive agreement with the California Lottery, GTECH officials said.
(Compiled from news reports and releases.)
