Executives of Indianapolis-based Steak n Shake Co. told analysts this morning that a 4.7-percent decline in same-store sales in its second fiscal quarter likely was tied to higher gas prices, a decline in housing starts and higher mortgage foreclosure rates. The restaurant chain said only 1.7 to 2 points of the 4.7 percent decline was […]
Hillenbrand Industries Inc. today said it would split itself into two companies, something the Batesville company said it was considering nine months ago and a move the company’s largest shareholder has been urging. The plan calls for Hillenbrand to spin off Hill-Rom Inc., its hospital equipment segment that has performed poorly for some time and […]
A.J. Wright, which retails discount clothing and household items, has agreed to a $239,993 fine by the city of South Bend for not following through on a 2002 commitment to create 657 jobs at a distribution center it built in the northern Indiana city. Wright, owned by TJX Cos. Inc. of Framingham, Mass., created only […]
Los Angeles-based Capital Group Cos. plans to add more than 300 investment, accounting and finance jobs in the Indianapolis area, Indiana Economic Development Corp. announced today. The jobs, which will pay an average salary of at least $50,000, will be located at Capital Group’s existing location at Woodfield Crossing on the northeast side as well […]
When Conseco Inc. settled a class-action lawsuit two years ago, it was confident its insurance would cover “a substantial portion” of the $10 million payout. Think again. According to a securities filing May 9, RLI Insurance Co. was absolved of any further responsibility toward Conseco by U.S. District Court Judge Larry J. McKinney in Indianapolis. […]
Abnormal losses have been so common at Conseco Inc. lately that a huge earnings miss in its first quarter produced just a mild effect on its stock price. Conseco shares fell slightly this morning after the life and health insurer reported earnings per share 24 cents below analysts’ expectations. Carmel-based Conseco announced Tuesday night after […]
Heartland Film Festival has created an umbrella nonprofit organization-Heartland Truly Moving Pictures-to cover all activities of the group. The film festival, which is slated for its 16th run this October, will be a subsidiary of the new organization but the parent nonprofit will also encompass the group’s foray’s into other areas, including year-round marketing efforts […]
Indy Office Solutions, which sells office equipment and manages company copying operations, has been acquired by Sharp Documents Solutions Co. of America for an undisclosed price. Stephen Orander, who founded Indy Office Solutions eight years ago, will remain as the manager. Mahwah, N.J.-based Sharp is using the deal to establish an Indianapolis regional direct sales operation.
Shares of Brightpoint Inc. rose 10 percent this morning, the first trading since the company late yesterday announced a sharp drop in first-quarter profit. The increase suggests that despite the weak results, many investors believe long-term prospects for the Plainfield-based distributor of wireless phones are strong. Brightpoint reported that profit fell 78 percent, to $1.9 […]
With gas over $3 a gallon, it pays to shop around for the best price. Verizon Wireless and other companies offer ways to check gas prices locally over the Internet. Verizon’s service offers prices and a map showing how to get to the gas stations. Regular unleaded costs $3.13 a gallon in Indianapolis, according to […]
The Paris-based utility that operates Indianapolis’ wastewater plants, Suez Environmental, is holding a tiny conference at IUPUI from Thursday through Saturday to discuss internal strategy for the next few years. Suez, which runs the local plants through its United Water Services subsidiary, will host about 15 people from its local operations as well as sites […]
Eli Lilly and Co. said today that it has become the second corporation, after IBM, to make public a policy forbidding using employees’ genetic information to discriminate in employment choices or eligibility for benefits. The Indianapolis pharmaceutical maker said employees are more likely to take part in individual healthcare programs if they’re assured information from […]
Lake Michigan will suffer from the expansion of the BP refinery at Whiting, environmentalists fear. The $3 billion project won’t increase wastewater capacity enough to stop more sludge and ammonia from being released into the lake, according to the Post-Tribune of Merrillville. Its wastewater permit requests being allowed to dump 50 percent more ammonia and […]
Central Indiana’s non-residential construction industry is growing faster than the nation’s. That’s one of several observations to be found in three sector-specific reports the Indiana Private Industry Council Inc. will release at a summit Wednesday at the Westin Hotel downtown. The “e3 summit” also will host panels of experts in each field to talk about […]
A 250-guest room, $45 million expansion of the Belterra Casino in southeastern Indiana has been postponed indefinitely by parent Pinnacle Entertainment Inc., the Las Vegas company said today. The move was driven by legislation passed in the General Assembly authorizing 2,000 slot machines at Hoosier Park in Anderson and Indiana Downs in Shelbyville, both of […]
Profit for Kimball International Inc. plummeted 47 percent, to $3.8 million, in its third fiscal quarter, the Jasper furniture and electronics maker reported yesterday. Kimball blamed the setback in the period ended March 31 on discounting office furniture prices, selling more lower-margin products and higher manufacturing costs. Electronics margins narrowed due a short in the […]
The Corporate Library has named Eli Lilly and Co. among a dozen large companies that have the most pronounced gap between stock performance and compensation of CEOs. Lilly chief executive Sidney Taurel was paid a total of $27.4 million in the past two years, but the five-year return on Lilly stock was a negative 24.6 […]
The state’s economic development performance received a “C” grade for the seventh year in a row in a report issued this week by the Indiana Chamber of Commerce. That’s an improvement from the “C-” of last year, but the state has ping-ponged between a “C” and “C-” in every year studied but 2000, when it […]
Joe Hale, who retired nearly a year ago from Cincinnati-based Cinergy Corp. as chief communications officer and president of Cinergy Foundation, is opening a Carmel office of the Chicago headhunting firm DHR International. Hale, 56, said he didn’t want to move to Charlotte, N.C., with Duke Energy Corp.’s acquisition of the utility and didn’t want […]
A surge of new products could drive Cummins Inc. sales to $20 billion by 2012, CEO Tim Solso told The Republic, a newspaper in the southern Indiana city. That would be about twice the $11 billion the diesel engine maker reported for 2006. Much of the increase would come from light-duty diesels the company is […]
