Harman International Industries Inc. has agreed to be acquired by two private equity firms for about $8 billion. Harman/Becker Automotive Systems, a car audio manufacturing unit of the Washington D.C.-based company, is located in Martinsville, where it employs about 500. The plant in February said it would cut about 84 jobs because it is moving […]
Stock in ITT Educational Services Inc. shot up 8.4 percent this morning, to $91.80 a share, after reporting today that first-quarter profit rose 35 percent. The $27.6 million in net income came on a nearly 16-percent increase in revenue, to $204.2 million. The Carmel technology-oriented post-secondary school attributed the gains partly to improved student retention.
Elevating Jim Cornelius from interim to permanent CEO of Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. makes the drug giant more expensive for another company to buy, an analyst told Bloomberg. Michael Krensavage of Raymond James & Associates said this morning’s announcement won’t stop speculation that the New York company could be a takeover target. But Cornelius now is […]
Drug giant Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. has elevated former Guidant Corp. chairman and CEO Jim Cornelius to permanent CEO. The 63-year-old Zionsville businessman had served as interim CEO of the New York company the past eight months. He has been a Bristol-Myers director since January 2005. Bristol-Myers fired CEO Peter Dolan in September after the company […]
ITT Educational Services Inc. posted first-quarter profit of $27.6 million, up nearly 35 percent over the year-ago period. Revenue increased almost 16 percent in the quarter ended March 31 to $204.2 million. Both figures were driven partly by improved student retention. The Carmel technology-oriented post-secondary school also saw a 13-percent increase in new student enrollment.
Dow AgroSciences, the Indianapolis-based agricultural arm of Midland, Mich.-based Dow Chemical Co., saw profit rise to $282 million from $216 million a year earlier due mostly to sales volume. A mild spring allowed European farmers to plant crops early, and sales of sunflower seeds were boosted by demand for healthy oil in the U.S. and […]
Solid demand strengthened manufacturing in the Midwest from mid-February to early April, according to the Federal Reserve Bank’s Beige Book report on the economy. An exception is trucking, where new emission requirements are denting sales. Overall, expansion continued at a modest pace as consumer and business spending as well as hiring continued at a modest […]
The addition of 39 regional jets and resulting increase in passenger traffic helped fuel a 14.1-percent improvement in first-quarter profit for Republic Airways Holdings Inc., the Indianapolis carrier said yesterday. The parent of Chautauqua and Republic airlines and Shuttle America reported $19.3 million in net income. Republic also said its plans to add 54 regional […]
A South Deerfield, Mass., company that manufactures shipping and transit cases for the military and industry plans to open a plant at Mount Comfort Commercial Park east of Indianapolis, according to Hancock Economic Development Council. Hardigg Industries Inc. will start with 30 workers and build to 75, using the location to serve its Midwest customers. […]
A rating of inpatient hospital satisfaction placed Indianapolis fourth in the country, behind only Oklahoma City, Okla., Milwaukee and New Orleans. The periodic survey by Press Ganey Associates of South Bend didn’t divulge specifics about Indianapolis. Nationally, satisfaction increased to an index of 84.2, has largely trended sideways for two years.
The Dow Jones industrial average topped 13,000 for the first time today. Having closed at 12,953.94 yesterday, the venerable index trended upward and broke the mark at 10:04 a.m., then lingered over 13,000 much of the morning.
About 370 temporary workers supplied by Personnel Management Inc. of Greenwood will be slashed from Toyota Motor Manufacturing’s plant in Princeton. The workers aren’t needed because sales of its Sequoia sport-utility vehicle are slipping, and Princeton workers supplied to help Toyota launch its San Antonio, Texas, pickup truck plant are no longer needed there, according […]
Shares of WellPoint Inc. tumbled in pre-market trading even after the Indianapolis health benefits firm reported strong first-quarter growth. The stock fell 4.7 percent before markets opened today and was trading at $78.35 as of 9:15 a.m. One concern was a rise in WellPoint’s benefit expense ratio, or the amount of claims it pays relative […]
Eli Lilly and Co. said today the Food and Drug Administration has given it the green light to market Lilly’s first product for dogs, an antidepressant called Reconcile. The drug is the first selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor class of antidepressants approved for canine separation anxiety. The Indianapolis drugmaker says as many as 10.7 million dogs […]
Evansville-based Vectren Corp. reported first-quarter profit of $70.1 million, up nearly 22 percent from a year earlier. The improvement was partly attributed to increased residential and commercial usage due to colder-than-normal weather. Vectren’s utility companies serve customers in the Indianapolis area outside of Marion County and in other areas of Indiana and Ohio.
Profit for WellPoint Inc. increased 16 percent, to $783.1 million, from the same period a year earlier, the Indianapolis-based health insurer said today. CEO Larry Glasscock attributed the results to “outstanding” commercial enrollment growth of 586,000 additional national account members. This story will be updated.
A group led by Royal Bank of Scotland has made a $98.5 billion offer for ABN Amro, the Dutch parent of LaSalle Bank. The bid is higher than the $90 billion deal offered Monday by London-based Barclays Plc. A condition for the Edinburgh, Scotland, institution—along with bidding partners Santander Central Hispano SA and Fortis—is that […]
Shareholders of Biomet Inc. are scheduled to vote June 8 on the company’s $10.9 billion acquisition by several private equity firms. The special shareholder meeting will be in Chicago. Shareholders holding at least 75 percent of the company’s common stock must vote in favor of the merger for it to be approved. In December, Biomet […]
Fiat SpA’s announcement yesterday that it is considering buying an American truck manufacturer has caused stock in Illinois-based Navistar International Corp. to leap, according to Bloomberg. Shares of Navistar, which operates an engine foundry on the eastside, were up as much as 8.7 percent, to $57.85, in over-the-counter trading this morning. The stock increased 10 percent yesterday […]
