Tag: GE

Latest Headlines July 28, 2016August 17, 2016

Kindred to open new hospital in Tacoma; Amazon’s Q2 beats top and bottom; orange you glad: Taco Bell’s burrito + Cheetos = ‘peak stoner’; and Ford’s stock dives 8% on poor results

A news summary focused on 10 big employers; updated 7:25 p.m.

KINDRED said it would build a 60-bed inpatient rehabilitation hospital in Tacoma, Wash., in a new joint-venture partnership with CHI Franciscan Health. The new hospital will care for adults recovering from stroke, neurological disease, injury to the brain or spinal cord and other long-term illnesses or injuries. The Louisville-based hospital and nursing home giant will manage the day-to-day operations at the new facility. Subject to regulatory and other approvals, Kindred expects the hospital to open by the first quarter of 2018.

In its Seattle market, Kindred already operates two transitional-care hospitals, two nursing centers, two co-located hospital-based sub-acute units, and it provides home health and hospice services. CHI Franciscan is affiliated with Catholic Health Initiatives, the third-largest nonprofit health system in the nation, with operations in 19 states (press release). Kindred has more than 2,200 employees in Louisville, and 102,000 company-wide. More about Kindred.

UPS is considering a $106 million expansion of its ground hub in Lexington (Herald-Leader).

AMAZON: The retailer just reported second-quarter financial results that beat Wall Street’s forecasts on the top and bottom lines. It earned $1.78 a share on sales of $30.4 billion. Analysts were expecting $1.11 EPS on revenue of $29.6 billion, according to FactSet (MarketWatch and press release). The company’s stock rode a roller coaster in extended trading: Shares are now up 2.7%, or $20.34, to $722.

GE CEO Jeffrey Immelt bought 50,000 shares of company stock at $31.45 a share on Tuesday, for a total cost of $673,000 — a bullish sign he thinks the stock may be headed higher (Reuters). Shares closed today at $31.25, barely changed.

TACO BELL is introducing its latest mash-up experiment, the Cheetos Burrito, mid-August in Cincinnati for $1. This is the second version sold by the Yum unit; it rolled one out last spring, the Cheetos Crunchwrap Slider, that GrubStreet dismissed as the “height of laziness” (GrubStreet). According to the Orange County Register, it’s a burrito “stuffed with crunchy Cheetos, buttery white rice, seasoned beef and nacho cheese” (Register). We can only imagine how the concoction will taste, muses Uproxx. “Will the Cheetos inside get soggy and soft? Or will they maintain that crunch that everyone loves?” Its verdict is already in: “Peak Stoner” (Uproxx).

FORD‘s stock fell 8.2%, or $1.13, closing at $12.71 a share on weak second-quarter financial results. Revenue totaled $39.49 billion and adjusted earning per share came in at 52 cents, below the FactSet consensus of 60 cents. But that’s a beat on the consensus revenue forecast of $36.31 billion, according to analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters (press release and MarketWatch).

BROWN-FORMAN: How one bourbon distillery makes its handcrafted barrels (Al.com).

In other news, embattled University of Louisville president James Ramsey agreed to resign yesterday, effective immediately, in a deal with the school’s trustees where he’ll be paid $690,000 in severance, the equivalent of about two years of his university salary only. Provost Neville Pinto will lead the university until a new president is selected.

Chairman Ulysses “Junior” Bridgeman said the board rejected Ramsey’s proposal to serve for up to one year as interim president. Bridgeman indicated that at one point the board considered firing Ramsey, 67, outright (Courier-Journal).

His exit caps a tumultuous period where Gov. Matt Bevin fired the previous board of trustees last month because, he said, it had become too dysfunctional to deal with multiple scandals on Ramsey’s watch.

Latest Headlines July 27, 2016July 28, 2016

Yum China buyout said stalled as two bidders balk at terms; U.S. farmers binge on rye as Brown-Forman whiskey demand soars; CJ owner Gannett’s stock tanks 9% on weak Q2 results

A news summary focused on 10 big employers; updated 4:03 p.m.

KFC Shanghai — A KFC in Shanghai, where the Yum China division is headquartered.

YUM: Two of what may be the only serious bidders for Yum’s mammoth China Division have submitted offers — including one for just $2 billion — but have failed to reach a final agreement for a business once expected to command $10 billion, according to The Financial Times. The bidders are China-based private equity fund Primavera and Singapore sovereign wealth fund Temasek.

Primavera made the $2 billion offer for part of the franchise, people briefed on the talks said. “The bid conformed to Yum’s original conditions for the sale, but the buyout group and Yum could not agree on pricing,” the FT says.

Temasek also made an offer — the newspaper didn’t say how much — but also couldn’t reach an agreement on the 7,200 KFC and Pizza Hut units. They accounted for more than half Yum’s revenue last year.

The Louisville-based fast food giant put the China operations on the auction block last year after being pressured to do so by investors including Corvex Management founder Keith Meister. CEO Greg Creed is preparing to lead a road show that Yum expects will end with a spinoff by Oct. 31.

But the FT’s report raises doubts about the timetable, particularly after Bloomberg News reported that a consortium of the only other known bidders dropped out in May: private equity firm KKR and Chinese state investor CIC.

A company spokesperson whom the FT didn’t identify said Yum is “making great progress toward the separation of our China business,” which last year accounted for 61% of Yum’s $11.1 billion in revenue and 39% of $1.9 billion in profits.

The FT’s report was published yesterday. This afternoon, Wall Street wasn’t worried; Yum’s stock closed less than 1% higher, or 47 cents, to $89.72 — just below its record trading high of $90.38 on Monday (FT).

BROWN-FORMAN: Racing to meet consumer demand for whiskey, U.S. farmers planted 1.76 million acres of rye for the 2016-17 season, the most since 1989 and a 12% increase from a year ago. Planted in autumn and harvested in mid-summer, rye fell out of favor over the past decade as other crops produced bigger profits (Reuters).

In Nashville yesterday, Jack Daniel’s officially opened its second retail store — the first in its 150-year history outside the distiller’s corporate hometown of Lynchburg. “We get about 275,000 visitors that come see us every year, and there’s certainly a lot more people in this world, and we’d like to take Lynchburg to them,” said Dave Stang, director of events and sponsorships. The store doesn’t sell its namesake liquor :(, but does sell Jack Daniel’s-branded merchandise (News Channel 5).

Meanwhile, the Jack Daniel’s Barrel Hunt promotion is coming to South Africa as part of the distiller’s 150th anniversary — a global scavenger hunt to find 150 handcrafted barrels at historic and cultural sites (Biz Community). Clues for the next barrel, in Lithuania’s Kaunas, will be revealed tomorrow. The most recent found was in the U.K.’s Manchester; still to be found: barrels in Prague and Riccione, Italy. How the hunt works.

And Brown-Forman stockholders hold their annual meeting tomorrow at 9:30 a.m. in the company’s Louisville headquarters conference center at 850 Dixie Highway. Board Chairman Garvin Brown IV will oversee the meeting. On the agenda, according to the proxy statement:

Electing 12 directors to the board. They include three new members initially elected this spring, all fifth-generation members of the Brown family controlling the company. They are Campbell P. Brown, Marshall B. Farrer, and Laura L. Frazier.
Voting on a proposal to amend the Restated Certificate of Incorporation to increase the number of authorized shares of Class A common stock in connection with the company’s previously announced two-for-one stock split.

GE/HAIER: In Everett, Wash., a Daily Herald reader takes issue Continue reading “Yum China buyout said stalled as two bidders balk at terms; U.S. farmers binge on rye as Brown-Forman whiskey demand soars; CJ owner Gannett’s stock tanks 9% on weak Q2 results” →

Latest Headlines July 26, 2016August 17, 2016

Texas Roadhouse stock dives 6% on downgrades; Amazon gets U.K.’s OK to test drones, possibly bringing service there before U.S.; and KFC food porn gets a video star

A news summary focused on 10 big employers; updated 4:39 p.m.

TEXAS ROADHOUSE shares tumbled $2.87 a share, or 5.9%, to close at $46.11 after Jefferies and two other investments firms downgraded the stock. They traded as low as $45.45 during the session; more than three million shares changed hands, five times average volume. The steakhouse chain’s shares have been on a tear since February; even with today’s decline, they’re up 22% from a year ago vs. a much smaller 4.3% in the S&P 500 index.

AMAZON‘s plans to deliver packages by small, unmanned drones took another step forward when the British government gave the retailer permission to start trials over rural and urban areas — a move that could bring the service to the U.K. ahead of the U.S. The U.K. Civil Aviation Authority’s permission means Amazon can explore three key innovations for delivering packages weighing up to 5 lbs.: beyond line-of-sight operations; testing sensor performance to make sure drones can identify and avoid obstacles, and flights where one person operates multiple highly-automated drones. “This announcement,” said Paul Misener, Amazon’s vice president of global innovation policy and communications, “strengthens our partnership with the U.K. and brings Amazon closer to our goal of using drones to safely deliver parcels in 30 minutes to customers in the UK and elsewhere around the world” (press release). Funny video, top, shows how Prime Air could work.

The move puts pressure on the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration, which recently rebuffed requests by Amazon, Google and other drone makers to advance their plans. The tech giants and other manufacturers have aggressively lobbied the FAA to authorize the devices to significantly reduce costs to transport goods by UPS and FedEx, freight and trucks (New York Times). That has big implications for Louisville, where UPS employs more than 22,000 workers at its Louisville International Airport hub, making the shipper the city’s single-biggest private employer. Amazon itself employs 6,000 at two Louisville area distribution centers. More news about the U.K. plan.

Also yesterday, Amazon launched its Prime membership service in one of the world’s biggest markets: India (TechCrunch).

PIZZA HUT: In the U.K.’s Ashford, the newly refurbished Pizza Hut has reopened with a contemporary new cocktail bar and full drinks menu, as part of a nationwide drive to freshen all the chain’s stores with a more modern look. The remodeling cost about $1 million, and all workers have been trained in cocktail making (Kent and Sussex Courier). The Japanese company that’s leasing robots to Pizza Huts across Asia is expanding the program to sell insurance in Japan. The robots, dubbed Pepper, greet customers and take orders; they’re leased for $836 a month in a service managed by iPhone manufacturer Foxconn (Daily Mail).

But in the U.S., don’t worry: Pizza Hut is still hiring humans. In San Diego, shift manager applicants are asked: “Do you have a friendly, outgoing, and positive can-do attitude? Do you have what it takes to WOW a customer every time?” (Craigslist).

GE: Louisville Metro Police arrested a 43-year-old Louisville man who they said was caught by a General Electric employee trying to sell more than $7,000 worth of stolen appliances online. Terrance Qualls is accused of advertising a refrigerator valued at $2,799 for $700 on an online classifieds website, according to an arrest citation released today. A GE employee noticed the item and asked about buying it (Courier-Journal).

PAPA JOHN’S yesterday presented a $41,000 check to WHAS’s Crusade for Children. The Louisville-based pizza giant raised the money in a promotion where customers got a 20% discount while 20% of the order was donated to the charity benefiting special-needs children (WHAS). Meanwhile, in New York’s Queens borough, Papa John’s says it’s hiring delivery drivers in help-wanted ads saying they’ll earn $600 or more a week working a “safe area” (Craigslist).

TACO BELL CEO Brian Niccol has joined the 11-member board of directors of Harley Davidson (press release). Last year, directors of the motorcycle manufacturer got paid $235,000 to $290,000, depending on committee assignments, according to the 2016 shareholder’s proxy report. They also received a clothing allowance of $1,500 to buy Harley-Davidson brand apparel and accessories, plus an unspecified product discount available to all U.S. employees.

Harley Davidson ball cap What could Niccol buy with his $1,500 allowance? Boulevard went shopping at Harley Davidson’s online store, and came up with this wish list:

Leather jacket: $425
Distressed leather chaps: $295
Boots: $180
Backpack on wheels : $120
Rhinestone skull stud earrings: $40
15 ballcaps (enough for entire senior management team): $450

Niccol’s appointment nudges him a little higher in The Boulevard 400™ powerbroker roster.

UPS: In Beaumont, Texas, Anna Gabrielle Van Hook, a 26-year-old woman hurt in a fatal crash last month, is now seeking $1 million from the shipper in a lawsuit accusing a UPS driver of traveling at an unreasonable speed on June 17, causing a chain-reaction crash involving multiple drivers. The accident started when a UPS truck hit a Mercedes from behind, and the driver of that car struck Van Hook’s car. A 45-year-old passenger in the Mercedes was killed (Enterprise).

KFC: In Swaziland’s Manzini, police are investigating allegations that a KFC restaurant manager locked two employees in a walk-in freezer for more than 20 minutes last week, before they were rescued by a co-worker who heard them banging on the door. The employees say it all began when their boss asked them to go into the freezer to retrieve some supplies (Swazi Observer).

And if that wasn’t strange enough, there’s this: In the U.K.’s Yorkshire, a 25-year-old woman who goes by just one name — Lydia — is cashing in on an Internet food porn craze called muk-bang, where thousands of people Continue reading “Texas Roadhouse stock dives 6% on downgrades; Amazon gets U.K.’s OK to test drones, possibly bringing service there before U.S.; and KFC food porn gets a video star” →

Latest Headlines July 22, 2016July 23, 2016

Lexington judge won’t budge on $5.3M bias award against UPS; Humana’s got slim chance beating anti-trusters; BF nabs top disability award; and Chinese nationalists expand protests beyond KFC

A news summary focused on 10 big employers; updated 4:37 p.m.

UPS: This morning in Lexington, Ky., a Fayette Circuit judge denied a motion to overturn a jury’s April verdict and $5.3 million in damages to eight black men who claimed a hostile work environment at a UPS facility in the city. Judge Ernesto Scorscone also rejected UPS attorney Neal Shah’s motion for a new trial. Shah didn’t have any comment after the hearing (Herald-Leader).

HUMANA and Aetna have only a slight chance to reverse the Justice Department’s decision yesterday to block their $37 billion merger, analysts and investors told Reuters, even as the two insurance giants promise to fight tooth and nail to win. “My initial impression from the complaint . . . is that the Justice Department and the states are on much safer ground” in their argument against an Aetna-Humana, said Beau Buffier, co-head of the antitrust group at Shearman & Sterling in New York (Reuters). Meanwhile, New Hampshire and Florida — with an especially big population of seniors — joined the Justice Department suit filed yesterday to block its $37 billion acquisition by Aetna of Hartford; Illinois joined the suit yesterday (Union Leader and News 4 Jax).

In more encouraging news, Humana was awarded a six-year Defense Department contract for the East Region of TRICARE, the military health care program providing benefits to service members, retirees and their families. Under the award, Humana’s service area would expand to about six million beneficiaries in a 30-state region. The Louisville-based insurer already has the contract for the South Region: Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, most of Texas and the Ft. Campbell-area in Kentucky. The new East Region is a combination of the current South and North regions (press release). The contract is worth $41 million (Federal News Radio). Humana’s announcement, nearly buried in yesterday’s DOJ news, to exit eight of 19 state health-care exchanges drew critics, who saw the move as a direct challenge to the Obama administration to block the Humana-Aetna merger (New York Post).

BROWN-FORMAN was awarded a score of 100 in the 2016 Disability Equality Index survey, by the US Business Leadership Network and the American Association of People with Disabilities. The survey awarded points in four major categories: culture and leadership, company-wide access, employment practices, and community engagement and support services. This year, 83 Fortune 1000-size companies completed the survey; two-thirds of these top the Fortune 500 list; complete list (news release).

KFC: Chinese nationalists have added iPhones and Continue reading “Lexington judge won’t budge on $5.3M bias award against UPS; Humana’s got slim chance beating anti-trusters; BF nabs top disability award; and Chinese nationalists expand protests beyond KFC” →

Latest Headlines July 21, 2016July 23, 2016

BF starts distribution system in Spain; GE Appliances owner Haier dragged into GOP China politics; and Tenn. man arrested over 20 lbs. of marijuana allegedly shipped via UPS

A news summary focused on 10 big employers; updated 4:55 p.m.

BROWN-FORMAN announced this morning that it’s launching its own distribution network in Spain, Europe’s third-largest whiskey market and the world’s ninth-biggest overall. The Louisville spirits giant will add about 40 employees in the expansion. The current distributor is Importaciones y Exportaciones Varma S.A. under a contract that will end June 30, 2017. “Establishing our own distribution organization in Spain will support the development of the Jack Daniel’s trademark as well as our broader portfolio in this dynamic market where premium spirits are growing,” said Thomas Hinrichs, president of Brown-Forman’s Europe and Asia markets.

Spain will join Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Mexico, Poland, South Korea, Thailand, Turkey, and the U.K. as markets where Brown-Forman owns or directly manages its own distribution. (press release). The company employs 1,300 workers in Louisville and another 3,300 across the U.S. and around the globe.

GE: Haier Group has been drawn into the bitterly contested Republican race for the White House, less than two months after the Chinese company completed its $5.6 billion purchase of GE Appliances. The conservative Federalist website says Indiana Gov. Mike Pence’s past support of Haier’s research and development center in Evansville, Ind., is an example of the politician’s helping China “steal” U.S. jobs. Although Donald Trump has run on a campaign attacking U.S.-China trade, the website implies his selection of Pence as running mate casts doubt on the GOP nominees’ anti-China bonafides (Federalist). In the past, the site has sparked stories in more mainstream media, including Politico and The Daily Beast.

Haier Pence — Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, second from right, and Haier Group President Liang Haishan, far right, at the Evansville ribbon-cutting.

A year ago, Pence joined Haier executives at a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the Evansville center. The pro-trade America China Society of Indiana quoted Pence saying at the time: “When I met with Haier executives in China this spring, I was invigorated by the company’s plans to accelerate technology development in Indiana. In addition to our strong workforce and pro-growth business climate, Indiana has quickly become a center for innovation, making the Hoosier State the natural choice for this facility as Haier continues to increase its presence in the United States” (America China Society). GE Appliances employs 6,000 workers at Appliance Park in Louisville’s south end.

UPS: In Spring City, Tenn., a man was arrested and charged with drug trafficking after Rhea County Sheriff’s deputies caught him with 20 lbs. of marijuana he allegedly received via UPS from California. Sheriff’s investigator Charlie Jenkins said the man, George Robert Luttenberger Jr., told him he’d been getting pot from California since 2012 (Herald-News). In Brooklyn, a federal judge allowed the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to proceed with a lawsuit accusing UPS of discriminating against male workers and job applicants who wore beards or long hair for religious reasons (Reuters).

PAPA JOHN’S fired a Denver employee who used a racial slur on a customer’s order slip and apologized to the teenager who placed the pizza order. “This action is inexcusable and doesn’t reflect our company values,” company spokesman Peter Collins told the Denver Post.

This was the second instance in less than a month where a Papa John’s employee was fired over an apparently racist order slip circulated on Twitter; the first one involved an Asian-American customer’s order at a Louisville restaurant near the end of June.

The Denver area restaurant is owned by Peyton Manning, the retired Denver Broncos quarterback who’s promoted Papa John’s in TV commercials. The teenager’s mother saw the order ticket and asked a community activist named Brother Jeff Fard for help (Denver Post). Yesterday, Fard sent a Tweet that included a possibly NSFW photo of the racial slur: Continue reading “BF starts distribution system in Spain; GE Appliances owner Haier dragged into GOP China politics; and Tenn. man arrested over 20 lbs. of marijuana allegedly shipped via UPS” →

Latest Headlines July 19, 2016July 22, 2016

Ind. Kindred exec accused of child molestation found dead; layoffs hit Deutsch ad agency that lost Pizza Hut account; GE Firstbuild’s cold-brew coffee maker set for 2017 release

A news summary focused on 10 big employers; updated 7:42 p.m.

KINDRED: The Johnson County Sheriff’s Office says Kindred Greenwood hospital CFO William Brenner was found dead inside his home near Indianapolis yesterday, 10 days after authorities accused him of molesting a 6-year-old boy he was fostering in 2014 and 2015.

Police say there was no evidence of a struggle and no weapons were found near the body. Investigators believe he may have had a medical episode and had died several days earlier. His body was found in a hallway and was badly decomposed (WIBC).

Brenner, 49, faced four counts of felony child molesting and one count of felony dissemination of matter harmful to minors, according to the Indianapolis Star. The Greenwood facility is one of Louisville-based Kindred’s 95 transitional care and rehabilitation hospitals. Greenwood is 12 miles south of Indianapolis.

Also today, Kindred said it would release its second-quarter financial results on Aug. 4 after stock markets close. The following day, it will host a teleconference with Wall Street analysts to discuss the report (press release).

In downtown Louisville, construction is picking up at Kindred’s new headquarters expansion at Broadway and Fourth streets after a relatively slow start. The $36 million project financed with substantial public incentives will add 142,000 square feet and around 500 new jobs. Plans also include around 7,000 square feet of restaurant space (Broken Sidewalk).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IVBhL2HJajg

PIZZA HUT: Advertising agency Deutsch went through a round of layoffs at its Los Angeles office last week directly related to the loss of the Pizza Hut account last spring. A Deutsch spokesperson would say only that less than 2% of the L.A.-based team had been affected. Deutsch won the struggling Yum unit’s account two years ago and went on to create the agency’s debut campaign (which essentially said, “We’re Italian”); video, top. Last December, the pizza chain started shopping the account, eventually choosing the independent Droga5 agency in May — its fifth agency of record in six years. Multiple sources have told Adweek that Pizza Hut is not the world’s most agreeable client. It’s not yet clear when Droga5’s first work for the chain will appear (Adweek).

GE: A cold-brew coffeemaker developed by GE Appliances’ Firstbuild laboratory in Louisville is scheduled to reach the market next summer, after first passing through a crowdfunding round on IndieGoGo. The lab is using unconventional funding for the coffee maker, called Prisma, not so much as a financial requirement as it is an awareness-raising launchpad. “We believe crowdfunding is a great way to validate products with the early adopter community,” Firstbuild Senior Design Engineer Justin Brown told Daily Coffee News. The Prisma can make anywhere from five to 25 ounces of ready-to-drink cold coffee (Daily Coffee News).

AMAZON has reportedly fired one of its delivery men Continue reading “Ind. Kindred exec accused of child molestation found dead; layoffs hit Deutsch ad agency that lost Pizza Hut account; GE Firstbuild’s cold-brew coffee maker set for 2017 release” →

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