Carmel resident Juergen Sommer traveled the globe as a professional soccer player before hanging up his cleats more than a decade ago. Now he’s at the helm of Indiana’s newest pro sports team.
Indianapolis is home to three amazing institutions that try to improve public school education—The Mind Trust, Teach for America and IUPUI School of Education—but reform rhetoric is hurting their efforts.
We hope society’s leaders will do well for us in times of turmoil. In the days following the verdict in the Florida trial of George Zimmerman, this state’s public figures responded to a difficult moment in ways that showed humanity and skill.
The state’s eight public TV stations are building an Internet-based video streaming service that could expand their offerings and turbo-charge collaborations. Public radio stations also would benefit.
Digging into the filings by health insurers, I concluded that half of Hoosiers buying individual coverage next year on exchanges will pay less than before Obamacare. The other half will pay more.
State utility regulators kicked off a week-long hearing Monday on a proposed water rate increase for Indianapolis residents by putting the CEO of Citizens Energy Group on the hot seat.
Indianapolis-based ApeX Therapeutics Inc. has raised $2.5 million to fund clinical trials of an experimental childhood leukemia drug. The fundraising, disclosed in a filing with the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission, was partly funded by Indianapolis-based BioCrossroads’ Indiana Seed Fund II. ApeX’s drugs are based on the work of Mark Kelley, a researcher at the Indiana University School of Medicine.
WellPoint Inc. CEO Joe Swedish predicted July 24 that the Indianapolis-based company’s operating revenue will soar nearly 27 percent over the next three years, to a whopping $90 billion, up from about $71 billion this year. He added that he expected the revenue growth to also come with compounded growth in annual profit of 4 percent to 6 percent per year—even before any acquisitions. Previously, there were concerns both inside and outside WellPoint because a huge portion of the company's profit comes from its plethora of small employer customers. With Obamacare creating new online exchanges later this year for those small employers, it looked like WellPoint would struggle to compete with more health insurers and in unfamiliar markets, just to hold its profit steady. But now, most health insurers are just focusing on the local markets where they are already strong, WellPoint officials said—rather than trying to steal business from their peers. And WellPoint thinks its well-recognized brand and established relationships in local markets will win the day in the exchanges. In addition, WellPoint expects growth to come as half of the 14 states in which WellPoint operates its Blue Cross and Blue Shield plans expand their Medicaid programs. WellPoint’s 2012 acquisition of Amerigroup Corp. is helping WellPoint move from an employer-focused company to one with a competitive business for managing government-funded health plans.
Sales grew but profit fell in the second quarter at Dow AgroSciences LLC, the company reported July 25. The Indianapolis-based ag biotech firm racked up nearly $1.9 billion in revenue in the quarter, an increase of 10 percent from the same period a year earlier. Quarterly profit totaled $290 million before accounting for interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization—down from last year’s second-quarter record of $307 million. Sales of crop-protection products rose 12 percent, driven by large gains in Latin America, where sales of new crop-protection products grew 14 percent. Dow AgroSciences is a unit of Michigan-based Dow Chemical Co.
Zimmer Holdings Inc. saw second-quarter earnings slump 29 percent as the orthopedic-device maker set aside an additional $47 million to cover the cost of lawsuits related to its Durom hip cups, according to the Associated Press. The Warsaw-based company stopped marketing the products in 2008 and has put more than $400 million in reserve to cover potential legal costs, including $108 million in the fourth quarter of 2012. Earnings fell to $152.1 million, or 89 cents per share, from $214.5 million, or $1.22 per share, a year ago. If the legal reserve charge and other one-time items are excluded, Zimmer said, its earnings rose to $1.43 per share from $1.34 per share. Revenue increased 4 percent, to $1.2 billion. Zimmer narrowed its profit guidance for the year and now expects to earn $5.70 to $5.80 per share. The company had previously projected adjusted profit of $5.65 to $5.85 per share.
Eli Lilly and Co. earned $1.2 billion in the second quarter, an increase of 31 percent compared with the same quarter last year, the drugmaker reported July 24. Earnings per share totaled $1.11, compared with 83 cents a year ago. Because it outperformed analysts’ expectations, Lilly hiked up its profit expectations for the year by a range of 13 cents to 18 cents per share. The company now expects to earn $4.28 to $4.38 for the year. In the second quarter, Lilly was able to boost its sales 6 percent worldwide, to $5.9 billion. Lilly’s best-selling drug, the antidepressant Cymbalta, is set to lose its U.S. patent protection in December, after which its sales will switch to cheaper generics. Sales of Cymbalta grew 22 percent in the second quarter, to nearly $1.5 billion. Lilly is hoping to win approval on new diabetes and cancer drugs to offset those coming hits to its sales. Lilly expects a 20-percent reduction in revenue in 2014 because of the U.S. expiration of the Cymbalta and Evista patents.
WellPoint Inc. earned $2.64 per share in the second quarter, the health insurer reported July 24. Excluding investment gains, WellPoint earned $2.60 per share, a 27.5-percent increase over the same quarter a year ago. WellPoint raised its full-year profit forecast 20 cents per share, excluding the impact of investments, to $8 per share. Overall profit for the quarter rose 24 percent from a year ago, to $800.1 million, as WellPoint’s customers continued to file modest amounts of medical claims. WellPoint spent 83.9 percent of its premium revenue on claims, a tick higher than in the first quarter but well below its predicted level of 85.5 percent for the year. WellPoint’s revenue for the quarter rose 16 percent, to $17.8 billion. WellPoint provided health benefits for 35.7 million Americans at the end of June, more than any other company in the United States.
Yes, there was a race over at the Brickyard over the weekend. But for fierce competition, nothing beat the high schoolers squaring off on the songs of Porter, Gershwin, etc.
For me, most of the weekend was spent in Muncie and Chicago. So what did I miss?
WFMS-FM 95.5 has taken back its Indianapolis country music radio crown from WLHK-FM 97.1 “The Hank,” but barely.
The Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission says Northern Indiana Public Service Co., Vectren and Citizens Gas didn't follow procedures and keep accurate pipeline records.
Big Ten Commissioner seeks more than TV ratings, full stadiums and Brinks trucks dumping their cargo on campuses from Lincoln to State College.
The only three employees still with the Colts since the team’s move to Indianapolis 30 years ago could not have envisioned what the franchise—and the community where it resides—would become in the last three decades.
The murder rate in New York City is 3.4 per 100,000. The murder rate in Indianapolis is 17.5 per 100,000.
The departure of former Indiana University beat writer Terry Hutchens earlier this month and Indiana Pacers beat writer Mike Wells last week comes on the heels of a major reorganization of the state’s largest daily newspaper’s sports department.
Health care reform, long perceived as a huge threat to WellPoint Inc., is now being embraced by the insurer as a huge growth opportunity.
Chicken chain Zaxby’s spring sponsorship deals with the sports programs at IU and Purdue now make more sense: Central Indiana is slated to get its first location later this year. Plus more retail news.
Strong sales and penny-pinching helped Eli Lilly and Co. beat Wall Street’s expectations in the second quarter, leading the company to raise its profit forecast for the year.
Business continued to improve at WellPoint Inc. in the second quarter, helping the health insurer beat Wall Street’s expectations and raise its profit forecast for the year.
