November 9, 2012

Business Digest November 9, 2012

OPENINGS

Boulder-based Maggie Evans Designs LLC, which sells vintage and handmade products for women, has created an online presence with Denver-based online retailer Londyn Kate at www.londynkate.com.

BRIEFS

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Three executives of Arca Biopharma Inc. and an investor have bought company stock to raise about $325,000 in a private placement, according to Securities and Exchange Commission documents. Michael Bristow, chief executive of Broomfield-based Arca BioPharma, John Zabriskie, a director, and Chris Ozeroff, Arca’s senior vice president and general counsel, bought shares, as did Jean-Francois Formela, an investor, according to SEC documents. After expenses, the net proceeds of the private placement are expected to be $280,000. The company received a delisting warning from Nasdaq on April 12. The notice gave the company 180 days to come back into compliance with a Nasdaq requirement that its stock trade for $1 per share or more. The company’s stock had been below $1 per share for the preceding 30 business days when the warning was made, according to the SEC document. Nasdaq notified Arca on Wednesday, Oct. 10, that the deadline for the 180-day period, that the company still did not satisfy a listing requirement, according to an SEC document. The company’s stock has traded between 26 cents and $2.45 per share in the last year.

An informal team of bicycle enthusiasts and craft brewers is leading the charge to put Longmont on the map of the USA Pro Cycling Challenge in 2013. The Challenge is a privately funded, seven-day cycling race, which in August generated $99.6 million in spending across Colorado, according to organizers. Boulder hosted the finish of a stage of the race this year. The city saw a boost in total sales- and use-tax revenues for August of $803,603 more than it had collected in August 2011, an 8.3 percent increase. Enthusiast group Bicycle Longmont, various breweries and a Visit Longmont representative have formed a committee to file an application to race organizers to host a piece of next year’s race. The application deadline is Nov. 16.

The city of Lafayette’s Energy Sustainability Advisory Committee has launched the Lafayette Green Business Awards Program to recognize businesses taking steps toward sustainability. All Lafayette businesses are invited to participate in an online survey through Nov. 15 at www.cityoflafayette.com/LESAC), and provide insights on their sustainable business practices such as recycling, energy saving efforts, and more. Each business will then be scored based on its answers. Lafayette’s top-scoring business will be honored as the “Green Business of the Year” and will be presented with an award and additional advertising and regional recognition. All businesses that meet minimum requirements also will get recognition and publicity for their efforts and participation.

In its second winter of bike-sharing, Boulder B-cycle will stay open for its red-bike users all winter — in contrast with last year, in which it closed from mid-December through mid-March. Two new B-stations will open in November: at Broadway and Iris Avenue and at 33rd and Fisher streets, next to the Boulder County Clerk and Recorder’s Office. The nonprofit bicycle-sharing system provides day users and annual members with bikes where and when they need them. B-cyclists can pick up, ride and drop off shared bikes at stations all over town. More information at www.boulderbcycle.com.

CONTRACTS

The largest energy provider in Australia has deployed a service to its customers that uses a software platform developed by Boulder-based Tendril Networks Inc. Origin Energy, with 4.4 million customers, will introduce Origin Smart to eligible households across the state of Victoria. Origin Smart is built on the Tendril Energize application suite. It offers insight into how consumers use energy, along with tools to better manage their electricity consumption and bills.

Ohio Health, which is affiliated with 17 hospitals, has converted to the Nellcor pulse oximetry and OsiNet remote respiratory monitoring system produced by Boulder-based medical equipment and supply company Covidien PLC (NYSE: COV).

Boulder-based Leisure Trends Group LLC was chosen by retailer Alpine Shop as its customer relationship marketing agency. Alpine Shop, founded in 1973 as Mooers Alpine in Webster Groves, Missouri, has Missouri retail locations in Kirkwood, Chesterfield and Columbia, and is about to open in O’Fallon, Illinois. Leisure Trends Group provides consumer research, retail sales tracking and integrated CRM/direct marketing services for the sports, recreation, hospitality, travel and entertainment industries.

Nine new specialty retailers signed on to distribute the new ski boot system from Boulder-based Apex Sports Group LLC: Primo Outdoor in Breckenridge; Double Diamond Ski Shop in Vail; Ski Haus in Brewester, New York; Helm of Sun Valley in San Mateo, California; Willard’s Ski Shop in Tahoe City, Nevada; Viking Ski Shop in Chicago; Hoigaard’s in St. Louis Park, Minnesota; First Flake Ski Shop in Winston-Salem, North Carolina; and Geiger’s in Lakewood, Ohio.

EARNINGS

DigitalGlobe Inc. is expecting to finish 2012 strong and posted a 31 percent year-to-year increase in revenue during the third quarter, the Longmont-based satellite imaging company said in its earnings report. DigitalGlobe (NYSE: DGI) reported $107 million in revenue in the third quarter, up from $81.9 million in the third quarter of 2011. Its net income was $8.5 million, or 18 cents per share, up from net income of $1.1 million, or 2 cents per share, last year. Revenue growth was driven by a 24 percent revenue increase in the defense and intelligence imaging unit, which made $81.1 million. The commercial imaging segment revenue grew 57 percent to $26.1 million in the quarter in a year-to-year comparison.

Array BioPharma Inc. reported revenue of $15.8 million for the quarter ended Sept. 30, a decline from the $22.1 million in revenue reported for the same period a year ago. In a press statement, Boulder-based Array (Nasdaq: ARRY) said the $6.3 million decline in revenue was expected because the company recorded a majority of a $28 million license payment from partner Genentech Inc. in its previous fiscal year, according to the press statement. Genentech, based in Vacaville, California, is a wholly owned subsidiary of Roche USA. Array’s net loss was $11.8 million, or 13 cents per share, for the most recent quarter, compared with $3.6 million, or 6 cents per share, for the same quarter in 2011. The company recorded $13.5 million in expenses for proprietary research and development for the quarter, compared with $12.6 million during the same period last year.

Crocs Inc., the Niwot-based footwear maker, posted net income of $45.1 million, or 49 cents per share, during the third quarter and revenue is on pace to eclipse last year’s record. Crocs (Nasdaq: CROX) reported third-quarter revenue of $295.6 million, a 7.5 percent increase over its $274.9 million revenue in the third quarter of 2011. The company’s net income for the third quarter of 2011 was $30.2 million, or 33 cents per diluted share. Year-to-date sales through Sept. 30, the end of the quarter, reached $898 million, which is 12.7 percent greater than sales through the same period last year. 2011 was the first year Crocs cleared $1 billion in sales. Crocs forecasts sales of $220 million for the fourth quarter.

Ball Corp.’s earnings in the third quarter dropped on a year-to-year basis. The Broomfield-based company (NYSE: BLL) reported third quarter net earnings of $115.1 million, or 73 cents per diluted share, on sales of $2.3 billion, compared with $132.1 million, or 79 cents per diluted share, on sales of $2.3 billion in the third quarter of 2011. Ball makes metal beverage cans, metal food and household product packaging and satellites.

Level 3 Communications Inc. (NYSE: LVLT) announced a net loss of $166 million during the third quarter, despite a slight revenue increase to $1.59 billion and a 5 percent increase in adjusted earnings. The Broomfield-based company’s net loss, 76 cents per share, is 168 percent greater than the $62 million net loss the company reported in the second quarter. Level 3 said the loss was inflated by a $60 million loss related to interest-rate swap agreements and a $49 million payment related to extinguishing debt.

UQM Technologies Inc., a designer and manufacturer of electric motors, generators and control systems for electric and hybrid vehicles, announced it lost $2.6 million, or 7 cents per share, during the quarter which ended Sept. 30. UQM’s net loss compares with a $1.6 million loss, or 4 cents per share, during the same quarter of 2011. UQM Technologies (NYSE MKT: UQM) is based east of Longmont. Revenue was $1.2 million, down 49 percent from the $2.3 million the company posted in the same quarter last year. According to the company, revenues dropped because CODA Automotive, a builder of electric vehicles, has taken longer than expected to increase production of its four-door electric vehicle.

Dynamic Materials Corp. reported $50.1 million in revenue in the most recent quarter, down 9 percent from the same period a year earlier, the company said in an earnings statement. Dynamic Materials (Nasdaq: BOOM) said the expected decline from $54.9 million in the quarter ended Sept. 30, 2011, came from a downturn in clad-plate sales related to shipment timing as well as a decline in oilfield products sales. The Boulder-based company has offices around the world and three major divisions: explosion-welded metal plates, oilfield products and welding. Net income was $3.8 million, or 28 cents per diluted share, in the most recent quarter, down 12 percent from net income of $4.3 million, or 32 cents per diluted share for the same quarter in 2011, according to the statement.

SERVICES

Boulder-based BiOptix Diagnostics Inc. announced the BiOptix Innovators Program, which encourages researchers and institutions to become acquainted with the upcoming BiOptix 404pi, the first commercially available Surface Plasmon Resonance, or SPR, instrument to incorporate phase-based common path interferometry technology. SPR is a sensitive optical technology that can measure refractive index changes on a sensor chip’s gold surface because of a change in mass that occurs during a binding event. This change can be used to monitor biological interactions such as the concentration of target molecules, kinetic rates and affinity constants.

Longmont-based Dot Hill Systems Corp. (Nasdaq: HILL), a leading provider of SAN storage solutions, today announced new “try-and-buy” and “trade-in” programs for end user customers in North America and Europe. These new programs are designed to facilitate adoption of Dot Hill AssuredSAN storage products in the marketplace by offering attractive pricing and making it easier to evaluate their features and performance alongside competitive offerings, and allowing customers to determine the suitability of AssuredSAN offerings as part of comprehensive IT solutions.

Deadline to submit items for Business Digest is three weeks prior to publication of each biweekly issue. Mail to Editor, Boulder County Business Report, 3180 Sterling Circle, Suite 201, Boulder, CO 80301-2338; fax to 303-440-8954; or email to news@bcbr.com with Business Digest in the subject line. Photos submitted will not be returned.

OPENINGS

Boulder-based Maggie Evans Designs LLC, which sells vintage and handmade products for women, has created an online presence with Denver-based online retailer Londyn Kate at www.londynkate.com.

BRIEFS

Three executives of Arca Biopharma Inc. and an investor have bought company stock to raise about $325,000 in a private placement, according to Securities and Exchange Commission documents. Michael Bristow, chief executive of Broomfield-based Arca BioPharma, John Zabriskie, a director, and Chris Ozeroff, Arca’s senior vice president and general counsel, bought shares, as did Jean-Francois Formela, an investor, according to SEC documents. After expenses, the net proceeds of the private placement…

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