16 November 2009
Local Business News 11.16.09
Posted by Connor under: Clinton; Economics .
In business sector, India’s largest company, Reliant Industries continues its interest in acquiring the North American assets of LyondellBasell. The petrochemical giant floundered into debt-induced Chapter 11 bankruptcy last January. Although no public pronnouncement has been made wth regardst to the size of the offer, industry sources say it probably ranges between $3 and $6 billion.
LyondellBasell is expected to leave Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the new year. The holding company is half-owned by Access Industries, the investment vehicle of Russian tycoon, Len Blavatnik, and ProChemie, a group controlled by Andreas Heeschen, a German tycoon best known for his investment in Heckler & Koch, the arms maker.
Bridgepoint Education, the San Diego-based owner of Ashford University, showed continued growth in revenues and student enrollments in its 3rd quarter report last week Bridgepoint Education has 54,894 students enrolled through Ashford and its University of the Rockies in Colorado. Of those students, 99 percent take their classes exclusively online.
Net income also is up significantly to $22.4 million, an increase of 155 percent over last year at the same time. The school also announced this fall that it would offer scholarships to top-performing students who study on the Clinton campus, including full-tuition scholarships to those who have a 3.5 GPA or above. The campus now has more than 600 students, the most in its history. Bridgepoint bought the campus in 2005 for $9 million from the Sisters of St. Francis.
Paper products company Rock-Tenn reported its quarterly financials last week. Although revenues are down from a year ago, they have been climbing back up this year on a quarter-by-quarter basis. In addition, RockTenn reported that they have increased their operating margins from the mid teens earlier in the year to 30% this quarter.
Archer Daniels Midland reported a steep drop in revenues this quarter over the quarter a year ago as profits fell 53%. At ADM’s corn-processing operations, which includes the company’s ethanol business, operating profit increased 59% as corn and manufacturing costs fell. Earnings rose in the unit’s sweeteners and starches business, but the bioproducts business turned in a loss as ethanol and lysine prices fell.