NEW BEDFORD – Settling a civil action with the Department of Justice and the Office of the Inspector General of the Department of Health & Human Services, Southcoast Health System has agreed to repay the federal government $3 million for incorrectly coded inpatient pneumonia cases between 1992 and 1995. The settlement is based on a review of pneumonia cases at Charlton Memorial and St. Luke’s Hospitals and includes the actual overpayment for 1,600 pneumonia cases plus interest, according to a release put out by Southcoast. The hospital group said it doesn’t expect the repayment to the government to affect any of the hospitals’ services or programs. During the mid-1990s the group relied on an outside consultant to assist in interpreting the diagnosis codes used for health care reimbursement, the group said. "Unfortunately those interpretations were incorrect," the company stated in a press release. Southcoast said it no longer hires consultants and has established an internal, system-wide compliance program to ensure accuracy.
Mayflower Bank reports
increased first quarter earnings
MIDDLEBORO – Mayflower Co-operative Bank announced that net income for the first quarter ended July 31 of $361,000 or $.27 per share, compared to $338,000 or $.25 per share for the same time last year.
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Edward M. Pratt, the bank’s president and chief executive officer, announced that the board of directors has declared a quarterly cash dividend of $.15 per share to be payable on Sept. 10 to shareholders of record as of Sept. 3. Pratt also reported a 7 percent increase in first quarter earnings and an $8.5 million increase in the deposit portfolio during the quarter.
The bank also announced that as the owner of a $500,000 bond issued by Conseco and scheduled to mature in February 2003, it had stopped accruing interest on its investment and would classify it as non-performing in the future.
Talbots profit rises 12
percent on full-price sales
HINGHAM — Talbots Inc.’s second-quarter profit rose 12 percent as the women’s clothing retailer controlled costs and inventory and sold its merchandise mostly at full price.
Net income increased to $20 million, or 33 cents a share, from $17.8 million, or 28 cents, a year earlier, Talbots said in a statement. Sales in the quarter ended Aug. 3 fell 3.6 percent to $370.4 million from $384.3 million. Talbots kept inventory low so it was left with fewer items for its clearance sale at the end of the quarter than a year earlier.
That led to a 10 percent decline in sales at stores open at least a year. Expense controls, and demand for Talbots’ summer and early fall fashions at full price, helped widen profit margins, investors said.
The stock had fallen 20 percent in the past year. The Hingham, Mass.-based retailer said it will open 91 stores this year, six more than originally planned. It will also advertise on television next month and introduce the Talbots Mens line of clothing in a 24-page catalog in October. (Bloomberg News)
The Crossing at Smithfield
receives $52.5 million financing
BOSTON – Holliday Fenoglio Fowler’s Boston office, the nation’s leading commercial mortgage banking firm, has arranged a $52.5 million financing for The Crossing at Smithfield shopping center.
The firm arranged the 10-year, fixed rate financing on behalf of S. R. Weiner & Associations and their affiliate W/S Development Associates, through Wachovia Securities, a conduit lender. The 588,294-square-foot shopping center is located at the northwest corner of the Interstate 295 and US Highway 44 intersection in Smithfield Rhode Island. The property is home to tenants like Kohl’s, Target and Home Depot.
State plans additional
tax assessment on Compass
NEW BEDFORD – Seacoast Financial Services Corporation, the holding company for CompassBank and Nantucket Bank, announced last week that Compass Bank has received from the Massachusetts Department of Revenue a Notice of Intent to Assess additional state excise taxes of $4,586,000, plus interest, pertaining to two tax year filings (1999 and 2000) by CompassBank’s REIT subsidiary. The amount of the assessment is consistent with the company’s previously announced expectations.
Each of the company’s two subsidiary banks has a REIT subsidiary. On July 25, the company announced it had received from the department of revenue a Notice of Intent to Assess additional state excise taxes of $1,517,000, plus interest and penalties, pertaining to two tax year filings (1999 and 2000) by Nantucket Bank’s REIT subsidiary.
As reported in the company’s Form 10-Q filed with the SEC on August 14, 2002, the company estimated that the impact in additional tax assessments for both subsidiaries covering tax years 1999, 2000, 2001 and the first six months of 2002 would be $8.6 million (net of federal tax benefit) excluding interest and penalties. No provision has been made in the company’s financials at this time and the company intends to vigorously contest any and all assessments received.
(Compiled from news reports and releases)
