Tag: Big Employers

Executive Pay
Paul Varga
Varga

Led by CEO Paul Varga, Brown-Forman executives yesterday disclosed a slew of stock transactions in a series of notices with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Varga sold 11,566 Class A shares at $103.71 each for a total $1.2 million in what appears to be tax-driven trade, according to this SEC Form 4. All SEC filings. Class A shares recently traded for $102.13, down 1%.

Related: Varga’s annual compensation totaled $11 million in fiscal 2015, the most recent year available; Boulevard‘s executive pay database.

Latest Headlines

Kindred’s Q1 results beat forecasts; Papa shares surge 8% at the close, and a Yum operator just got way bigger

Latest news, with a special focus on big Louisville employers; updated at 4:48 p.m.

KINDRED just reported first-quarter earnings per share of 25 cents, down 27% from a year ago, but better than analysts’ expectations. Revenue rose nearly 10% to $1.84 billion, in line with forecasts (press release). In late trading, shares surged 3.4% to $14.98.

PAPA JOHN’S stock soared 8% to $60.16 a share at the close today, after the company reported first-quarter results late yesterday that beat forecasts on earnings, but missed on revenue (Reuters). The company is charging into a record number of foreign markets this year: “Our international business is on fire,” CEO John Schnatter told analysts during a conference call today (Insider Louisville).

HUMANA said first-quarter profit dove 28% to $1.86 per share, but that was higher than management’s earlier forecast of $1.80, excluding items (press release and The Wall Street Journal). Shares closed moments ago at $175.70, down less than 1%.

Diablo sauceYUM: One of Yum Brands’ biggest operators has added 91 more KFC and Taco Bell outlets in five states: Michigan, New York, New Jersey, Maryland and Florida. The deal gives KBP Foods of Overland Park, Kan., 361 locations in 14 states (Nation’s Restaurant News); overall, Yum has nearly 43,000 restaurants worldwide. Taco Bell is permanently bringing back Diablo Sauce, according to USA Today (which now apparently has some sort of sponsored content agreement with the Yum unit). Pizza Hut has bacon-stuffed crust pies again (Daily Meal). KFC has opened a high-tech concept store in Shanghai (Manila Bulletin). Also, a Florida woman told police she found something seriously gross in a chicken sandwich (Smoking Gun).

TEXAS ROADHOUSE continues to tinker with its Bubba’s 33 pizza-and-burger concept stores (Insider Louisville and Business First). Also, the chain will open its latest Texas Roadhouse restaurant, in Virginia’s Roanoke County, June 20; the chain is now looking to hire 160 people for the location (WDBJ). The company already has more than 460 restaurants in 49 states, plus five locations in the Middle East.

KROGER: The operator of a huge Kroger distribution center in Colorado is moving to replace employees who’ve been on strike nearly a week (Gazette).

And in other news, Norton Hospital in downtown Louisville is the fourth-most profitable hospital in the country, according to a new academic study — a study the hospital disputes (WDRB). Louisville tobacco company Turning Point Brands is exploring an IPO (Business First).

Latest Headlines

Ford April sales best since 2006; Brit accused of attempted murder at KFC gets suspended sentence, and UPS adds to hybrid electric fleet

Latest news, with a special focus on big Louisville employers; updated at 1:43 p.m.

FORD said April U.S. auto sales rose 4%, and that retail sales grew 3%, also its best April retail results since 2006. “We saw strong consumer demand in April, especially for pickups,” said Mark LaNeve, vice president of U.S. marketing, sales and service (CNBC). Ford shares recently traded at $13.49, down 1%, as automakers overall fell with a broadly lower market.

YUM: A 40-year old British man received a suspended prison sentence after being accused of threatening to kill an employee at a KFC store in late February in central England. Craig Mellor was caught on video surveillance camera putting his hands around Kallum Byatt‘s neck at the restaurant in Hanley, south of Manchester. Mellor was arrested and later pled guilty to a racially aggravated assault on Byatt (Stokes Sentinel).

UPS is adding to its Louisville fleet of hybrid electric delivery trucks, to a total 125, to extend their range and improve fuel efficiency (Courier-Journal).

In other news, Kentucky’s coal industry continued its freefall in the first quarter, falling nearly 13% statewide.  The bulk of the job losses came in Eastern Kentucky, with more than a 1,000 lost there. Statewide, about 6,900 coal miners are employed, the lowest level recorded since 1898 (WFPL).

Latest Headlines

Texas shares jump despite Q1 miss; Papa tests new crunchy crust, and man drives 870 miles for KFC

Latest news, with a special focus on big Louisville employers; updated at 4:29 p.m.

Texas Roadhouse logoTEXAS ROADHOUSE shares surged 4% to $47.33 after hours even though it reported weaker-than-expected first-quarter results (The Street). Press release.

CHURCHILL DOWNS and Levy Restaurants announced a 10-year extension to their current contract today (Courier-Journal).

PAPA JOHN’S is testing a new pan pizza crust at select locations in Kentucky. The new pizza is described by the chain as “pan baked for a thick, crunchy crust,” and should be ready for a national launch this summer (Brand Eating).

UPS: Negotiators for the shipper and the 2,500-member Independent Pilots Association will resume contract talks later this month. Pilots have been working under the terms of their previous contract for five years, and the union late last month set up a strike center here in Louisville (WFPL).

YUM: Inspired by Uber, Pizza Hut is officially launching “Visible Promise Time,” showing what time a pizza will be prepared, ready, and delivered before customers place their order (Business Insider). A Canadian man drove 870 miles to get his wife some KFC (Metro). And U.S. stock index futures were set to be broadly higher this morning amid subdued trading in Asia and Europe and ahead of the key nonfarm payrolls data at the end of the week (CNBC).