NEW BEDFORD – New Bedford-based Seacoast Financial Services Corporation, the holding company for CompassBank and Nantucket Bank, announced the completion of its third stock repurchase program of 1,254,312 shares at an average of $17.37 per share.
The company also announced that its board of directors authorized an additional repurchase program of 1,194,284 shares, or 5 percent of its outstanding common stock as of Sept. 13. This program is the company’s fourth repurchase program authorized by the board since its mutual to stock conversion in November 1998. The program is expected to begin no earlier than Oct. 29, two business days after Seacoast’s third quarter earnings release.
Shares will be repurchased through the open market or through negotiated transactions and will be held by Seacoast as treasury shares. The timing of these transactions will depend on market conditions and other corporate strategies, to be made at the company’s discretion.
Active Internet content
now a greater threat than viruses
BOSTON – According to a new report from Boston-based Aberdeen Group, a leading market analysis and positioning services firm, active Internet content, invisible software microbes that quietly enter computer networks and are digital moles for outside agents, now pose a greater threat to enterprises than viruses.
Many enterprise networks, most consumer PCs and almost all ISPs are now infected with active Internet content that includes software exploits including that which secretly takes away e-mail handles, passwords and keystrokes; silently enabling hidden network services and ports, from PCs through firewalls; and redirecting outbound data to remote sites by fabricating DNS addresses, Aberdeen said in the report, “Active eIRM: New Realities for Managing Electronic Infrastructure Security.”
Unlike traditional viruses, active Internet content is generally not detectable using traditional virus-finding technologies, which do not look for active Internet content and can’t keep up with its rapid rate of change.
Signs of active Internet content infections include: incoming e-mail with the user’s e-mail address; degraded throughput and excessive disk drive chatter; unauthorized outbound connections to routers; Web site defacements; unauthorized and uninvited Instant Messaging and peer-to-peer protocols; Trojan horses embedded in IT maintenance software; and automated redirection of network IP destinations, as well as others.
Lightolier wins first
place in industry awards
FALL RIVER – Lightolier, Inc. recently took top honors in the “2002 Architects Choice for Excellence Awards,” as voted by readers of Architectural Lighting and Architecture magazines. The ACE Awards salute manufacturers for their commitment to product excellence in the areas of lighting durability, value, service and quality.
“Our foremost priority is to provide well-made, affordable lighting solutions to architects, designers, and all of our customers. Receiving this acknowledgement from the architectural community is yet another sign that we are succeeding in our mission,” Ken Mackenzie, director of marketing for the company, said.
For the Architectural Lighting portion of the ACE Awards, Lightolier won top honors in a field that included 166 companies. For the Architecture portion of the awards, the company was selected first out of 70 eligible companies.
The TJX Companies, Inc.
report August sales
FRAMINGHAM – The TJX Companies, Inc., the leading off-price apparel and home fashions retailer in the country and worldwide, recently reported its August 2002 sales results, showing sizeable gains for the month in all stores.
Sales for the four-week period ending Aug. 31 were $920 million, an increase of 11 percent over $826 million gained during the same period ending Sept. 1 last year. For the 30 weeks ending Aug. 31, 2002, sales reached $6.397 billion, a 13 percent increase over last year’s $5.638 billion.
Consolidated comparable store sales for the four-week period were up 2 percent over last year. For the 30-week period, sales were up 4 percent over last year.
TJX operates 704 T.J. Maxx, 608 Marshalls, 134 HomeGoods and 59 A.J. Wright stores in the United States.
“August sales met our expectations despite the unseasonably hot weather in many parts of the country that affected demand for fall apparel during most of the month,” said Edmond J. English, president and CEO of The TJX Companies, Inc. “Inventories remain in excellent shape across all division as we enter September and we continue to take full advantage of the many off-price buying opportunities available to us.”
Blount Realty, LLC purchases
Fall River BCIA, LLC building
BOSTON – Insignia/ESG, Inc., one of the nation’s largest commercial real estate service providers, has announced that one of it’s clients, Blount Realty, LLC, an affiliate of Blount Seafood Corporation in Warren, RI, recently acquired a building in Fall River from Fall River BCIA, LLC.
Blount Realty purchased the single-story, 45,000-square-foot building for $2.4 million. Richard Borden, managing director at Insignia/ESG’s Boston office, represented Blount Realty in the building purchase, as well as in an adjoining six-acre, $300,000 land purchase from the Greater Fall River Development Corp. Mike Giancola of Southeast Commercial Real Estate represented Fall River BCIA, LLC.
According to Borden, Blount plans to build a freezer adjoining the current building to house its extensive logistics operation. It also plans to retrofit the space for manufacturing their specialty food products made for the restaurant trade and plans to add its culinary and R&D centers as well. Blount’s plant in Warren will continue to operate as the company’s shellfish processing plant.
(Compiled from news reports and releases.)
