Articles

Fortune ekes out profit on falling revenue

Indianapolis-based Fortune Industries Inc. managed a small profit in its third quarter and now has turned a profit in each
of its last three quarters, the company announced this morning.

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Debt maneuvers help Emmis turn quarterly profit

Emmis Communications Corp. reported a quarterly profit today after buying back a big chunk of its own debt on the cheap, but
the outlook for the company remains grim. The radio broadcaster and magazine publisher saw revenue plunge 27 percent.

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Brightpoint’s Danish deal not so sweet two years later

The cross-continent mega deal that made Brightpoint Inc. the world’s biggest wireless phone distributor
has lost much of its sheen two years after being struck. Brightpoint Inc. in August 2007 purchased Denmark-based
Dangaard Telecom for $385 million in stock and the assumption of $350 million in Dangaard debt.

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HHGregg accelerates store-opening plans

HHGregg Inc. said this morning that the bankruptcy of competitor Circuit City should enable the company to open more stores
within the next few years than previously expected.

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Steak n Shake sales, traffic rise

Steak n Shake Co. yesterday reported big increases in customer traffic and same-store sales for its fiscal third quarter,
which ended July 1. Customer traffic rose 13.4 percent and same-store sales jumped 5 percent in the quarter compared to the
same period a year ago, it said in a brief Securities and Exchange filing.

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If Dow AgroSciences sells, let’s hope it’s not to a rival

Private equity firms have a reputation as ruthless acquirers. They slash fat and jettison sluggish product lines, all in a quest to wring out higher profits and grow the parts of the business with the most potential. For Indianapolis-based Dow AgroSciences—or at least for its 1,200 local employees—a buyer like that would be a godsend. […]

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Is Lilly under-appreciated?

Indianapolis has always had Eli Lilly and Co., it seems, and Lilly always seems to care for Indianapolis
like a rich uncle.

People employed directly by Lilly and by companies doing business with Lilly account for about one of every
30…

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VIEWPOINT: CEOs, do you deserve your salaries?

An exaggerated share of the nation’s wealth is paid to CEOs of public companies, their minions and directors, through agreements
made inside boardrooms, by highly compensated individuals who commit shareholders’ money and are not subject to effective
oversight.

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Half of state’s public-company CEOs saw pay rise in 2008

For investors, 2008 was the worst year since the Great Depression. Even so, more than half of the state’s public-company executives
saw the value of their pay packages rise from 2007—despite the fact that only 10 of the companies posted a positive total
return in 2008, and 46 companies shed more than one-third of their stock market value.

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Express Scripts closer to $4.7B WellPoint deal

Express Scripts Inc. has cleared an
antitrust review for its planned purchase of Indianapolis-based WellPoint
Inc.’s pharmacy benefits management business, bringing the $4.7 billion deal
closer to completion.

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Steak n Shake hoping to roll out lower-cost, limited-service stores

TV spots for Steak n Shake Co. used to play up the chain’s full-service restaurants, complete with friendly servers, real plates
and glass ketchup bottles—a departure from the "workaraunts" operated by McDonald’s and Burger King. Now, Steak n Shake is developing plans for its own workaraunts.

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With pharma famine looming, Lilly relying on snack-size deals

Compared with some of his pharmaceutical CEO peers these days, John Lechleiter has his company on a diet. Instead of using a mega-merger to bulk up before the famine that patent expirations will bring on the industry next year,
Lechleiter has Eli Lilly and Co. burning management fat while looking for smaller companies to munch on.

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