By Roby Brock
Dillard’s recorded quite a turnaround despite lower sales with a fourth quarter profit of $79.5 million. One year ago, Dillard’s lost $149.3 million.
For the fourth quarter, which is the mall retailer’s most active sales period, revenue declined to $1.8 billion from $2 billion one year earlier. Company officials credited better margins and tighter expense controls for the improved bottom line. Dillard’s closed four stores in the fourth quarter of 2009 and announced plans to close two more in Texas in the first half of 2010.
For the full year, Dillard’s reported net income of $68.5 million on sales of $6.1 billion. One year ago, the company posted a net loss of $241.1 million on sales of $6.8 billion. For the full year, same-stores declined 10 percent. However, in its most recent month of sales, Dillard’s saw February same-store sales jump two percent.
Simmons First to close nine branches
Simmons First National Corp. announced that it will close nine financial centers in nine cities throughout Arkansas in June as part of a downsizing initiative.
The affected branches are in Altus, Grady, Gould, Leslie, Cherokee Village, El Dorado, Huttig, Jonesboro and Hector.
After the closing of the nine financial centers, Simmons First will conduct business from 79 offices of which 75 are financial centers in 40 communities.
Wal-Mart increases annual dividend
Wal-Mart Stores’ board of directors approved an annual dividend of $1.21 per share, an 11 percent increase from the $1.09 per share paid during fiscal year 2010.
For this current fiscal year, the annual dividend will be paid in four quarterly installments of $0.3025 per share.
Wal-Mart says that its dividend payout this year will return more than $4.5 billion to shareholders. Wal-Mart has increased its dividend every year since its first declared a dividend of $0.05 per share in March 1974.
Hope plant closing to idle 50-60 jobs
Commercial Metals Co., headquartered in Irving, Texas, says it will close its joist and deck fabricating facility in Hope as the company exits the business altogether.
As many as 60 remaining employees at the Hope factory will be released by late-April. The company had already scaled back production and employees in January. A company official says there is little likelihood that the plant would re-open under a different production line.
H-P dedicates $28 million Conway facility
The company that bills itself as the world’s largest technology firm, Hewlett-Packard, dedicated its $28 million customer service center in Conway.
H-P said it plans to employ more than 1,000 employees in Conway, a slight revision from its previously announced hiring of 1,200 workers. Average salaries are expected in the $40,000 range.
The state-of-the-art center will support customer service for H-P’s home, business and enterprise clients. It will also house some sales representatives working with large corporate accounts.
State revenues exceed forecast thanks to low tax refunds
Key tax collections fell below last year’s levels in February, but overall receipts surpassed expectations thanks to fewer tax refund payments.
“Refunds were well below forecast, which was a good sign,” said John Shelnutt, chief economist and head of the state’s Office of Economic Analysis and Tax Research.
He warned that with two months to go in the tax refund season that state finance officials are “not making a trend of it” and will be watching to see how individual tax refunds fluctuate in March and April.
February’s net available general revenues totaled $365 million, 12.5 percent below last year, but 8.5 percent above forecast. Sales taxes and individual income tax collections were down from one year ago and below expectations.
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Roby Brock, a freelance journalist based in Little Rock, writes weekly for the Arkansas News Bureau. His weekly television program airs at 10 p.m. Sundays in Central and Northwest Arkansas. His e-mail address is roby@talkbusiness.net; his Web site address is www.talkbusiness.net.
