By Roby Brock
Arkansas tax revenues rose almost 6 percent compared to last year, with consumer spending boosting the August revenue report from the Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration. Year-to-date (July and August, first two months of fiscal year 2011) gross revenues totaled $856.9 million, up 5.7 percent above the same period in 2009 and up 3.1 percent over forecast.
DFA officials said the improvement in revenue comes from the individual income tax and gross receipts taxes — primarily sales and use taxes. Those two taxes account for 87 percent of total collections, according to DFA.
Caterpillar officially opens NLR plant
Caterpillar officially opened its new $140 million motor grader plant in North Little Rock on Wednesday. The company, which is the world’s largest maker of mining and construction equipment, announced in early 2009 that it would bring the plant to Arkansas and hire up to 600 workers. Already, 200 workers have been hired and trained and are making new graders.
Arkansas bank profits up, but loan losses stifle recovery
Second-quarter earnings for Arkansas banks jumped 25 percent from the previous year, according to the FDIC’s quarterly banking profile, yet loan losses continued to mute a full upturn in the state’s financial sector.
For the period ended June 30, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.’s quarterly report showed that Arkansas banks earned $210 million compared to $168 million a year ago. When compared to the previous quarter, profits at FDIC-insured Arkansas banks and savings institutions were up 76.5 percent.
Despite the improvement, earnings remain below historical norms. For example, Arkansas’ 132 FDIC-insured banks earned $262 million in the second quarter of 2007.
Additionally, loan-loss provisions in Arkansas remain near record levels and the number of federally-insurance institutions in the state continue to decline — with 31 banks dropping off the list in the last five years.
In Arkansas, total loan and leases reserves grew 14.2 percent year-over-year from 1.69 percent to 1.93 percent, indicating that asset quality of loan portfolios at local and regional banks remains problematic.
J.B. Hunt gives $5 million to Arkansas Children’s Hospital
J.B. Hunt Transport Services Inc. has awarded a $5 million gift to Arkansas Children’s Hospital in Little Rock. The gift is designated specifically for the second floor of the hospital’s new South Wing, which began construction in 2008 and is scheduled for completion in the summer of 2012.
The South Wing will create an additional 54 inpatient beds, expanding the hospital’s pediatric Heart Center and Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), and increasing the total bed availability to 370.
Assembly facility to add 75 jobs in Fayetteville
Delta Group Electronics Inc., which assembles custom wiring harnesses, printed circuit boards and provides turnkey assembly services throughout the southern half of the United States, announced it has begun construction of a new 36,000 sq. ft. building in Fayetteville. The expansion is expected to provide 75 new jobs to the area over the next several years.
Realtors group revises June housing report
The Arkansas Realtors Association amended its June 2010 housing report after discrepancies surfaced in an initial report distributed two weeks ago.
The revised ARA report shows that home sales rose 3.3 percent in June 2010 versus June 2009. Valuations were higher at 2 percent. Statewide home prices fell 1.2 percent for the month.
Year to date, home sales are 12.5 percent higher in terms of units sold. The value of homes sold is up 10.9 percent for the January-June period compared to last year’s six month time frame.
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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.
