Tag: Yum

Latest Headlines

Ford exec sells $800K in stock; Humana files SEC quarterly report, and Powerball pot soars to $415M

Latest news, with a special focus on big Louisville employers; updated 5:39 p.m.

Joseph Hinrichs
Hinrichs

FORD Executive Vice President Joseph Hinrichs sold 60,000 shares of stock at $13.32 a share yesterday for a total near $800,000, the company said in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing this afternoon. Ford paid Hinrichs $6.4 million last year, including changes to his pension value. Boulevard’s executive pay database.

KINDRED said it plans to make presentations at two upcoming investor conferences later this month (press release). Also, the company held a first-quarter earnings conference call with analysts at 9 a.m. today. How to listen to the replay; the company released results yesterday (press release). And the board of directors declared a regular quarterly cash dividend of 12 cents a share (press release). Shares closed at $13.44 down 7.3% this afternoon.

HUMANA just filed its first-quarter 10-Q with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Also, the insurer may exit some states’ insurance exchanges next year, the company said during its first-quarter report yesterday (Business First, Insider Louisville and CJ). In the pre-market, shares were basically flat at $175.70.

TEXAS ROADHOUSE has just filed its 10-Q, too.

UPS shareholders have re-elected the full slate of 11 board members (press release).

YUM has filed initial documents with the Securities and Exchange Commission on its planned China division spinoff (Business First).

PAPA JOHN’S: Here’s a transcript of yesterday’s first-quarter conference call with analysts.

pb_logo_1In other news, the Powerball jackpot is now a staggering $415 million, the ninth-largest potential payout in U.S. history, after no winning numbers were drawn last night; next drawing is Saturday (WAVE). Last night’s numbers: 30 47 57 66 69 3. How to play. Also, Norton Healthcare is adding four operating rooms to the Women’s and Kosair Children’s Hospital in the Dupont area as part of a 7,000 square-foot addition (Business First).

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).

Latest Headlines

Yum names Gibbs CFO; Papa hit with $11M verdict, and Brown-Forman returns to Scotch

Latest news, with a special focus on big Louisville employers; updated at 3:19 p.m.

Gibbs_rt
Gibbs

YUM just announced the promotion of David Gibbs, 53, to president and CFO, effective May 2. Gibbs, who’s been with the company 27 years, previously served as CEO of the Pizza Hut Division. He replaces interim CFO Dave Russell, who’ll return to Yum’s vice president, finance and corporate controller. (Press release.) A leadership shakeup at Yum has been in the cards for some time now (Business First). He arrives at a crucial time for the company (Nation’s Restaurant News). Former CFO Pat Grismer announced his resignation in December (Insider Louisville). Yum’s stock traded recently for $81.44, down less than 1%.

PAPA JOHN’S: In Georgia, a DeKalb County jury awarded $11 million to a woman claiming permanent brain damage from a crash with a pizza delivery vehicle on a rain-slicked road. The company’s lead attorney said the verdict would likely be appealed (Daily Report).

BROWN-FORMAN is getting back into the Scotch business after an 11-year absence with the $415.42 million purchase of the BenRiach Distillery in the north Scotland city of Newbridge. BenRiach’s brands include the Heart of Speyside. Today’s deal follows Brown-Forman’s sale of the Southern Comfort and Tuaca brands to Sazerac for $543.5 million three months ago (Reuters). Brown-Forman’s press release about the deal. Also, the company has named Eric Helms as new marketing director for its Global Travel Retail division (Travel Retail Business).

FORD: A threat to the Kentucky Truck Plant? Ford says it needs additional capacity for production of its next-generation Super Duty pickup (Courier-Journal).

TEXAS ROADHOUSE opened its newest location Monday, in Blackman Township, Mich (M Live).

In other news, Woodford Reserve followed an annual Kentucky Derby tradition and unveiled this year’s $1,000 Mint Julep yesterday (WLKY). The Al J. Schneider family drama over downtown’s Galt House grinds on in court (Insider Louisville). And on Wall Street, stocks were poised to tumble after Apple whiffed on earnings yesterday (MarketWatch).

Latest Headlines

Yum profit jumps, and so do shares

YumYUM‘s second-quarter profit rose as its China business continued to show signs of recovery, posting its third consecutive quarterly increase in a key sales metric. The results handily beat forecasts on the bottom line, but missed on the top. Excluding special items, Yum reported earnings per share of 95 cents vs. 80 cents a year ago. Revenue was $2.62 billion. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters had projected 83 cents a share on $2.65 billion in revenue (MarketWatch). Citing the results, Yum raised its projections for growth in core operating profit to 12%, from its previous target of a 10%. Here’s the press release. Wall Street liked the news; Yum shares rose nearly 4% to a recent $85.67 in extended trading. The China unit is Yum’s top profit-driver, and investors are focused on how the company will separate that business and how richly it will be valued (Reuters via NYT)