Briefcase, Feb. 19, 2016

CLOSINGS

Spooners Frozen Yogurt closed its location at 2720 Council Tree Ave., Unit 166, in Front Range Village in southeast Fort Collins.

EARNINGS

Buoyed by a $3.2 billion tax benefit during the fourth quarter, Broomfield-based telecom Level 3 Communications Inc. (NYSE: LVLT) reported a profit of $3.4 billion, or $9.71 per share, for its 2015 fiscal year that ended Dec. 31. By comparison, Level 3 recorded a profit of $314 million in 2014. Revenue was $2.1 billion for fourth-quarter 2015, compared with $1.9 billion for fourth-quarter 2014. For 2015, revenue was $8.2 billion compared with $6.8 billion for 2014. In fourth-quarter 2015, the company generated a profit of $3.3 billion and basic earnings per share of $9.33, compared with $66 million, or 22 cents per share, for the same quarter a year ago.

Boulder-based broadband infrastructure provider Zayo Group Holdings Inc. (NYSE: ZAYO) reported a net loss of $10.8 million for the company’s second fiscal quarter, which ended Dec. 31. That amounted to 4 cents per share and was down from a profit of $3.8 million, or 2 cents per share, for the same period a year earlier. Second-quarter revenue was $369.6 million, up 14 percent from a year earlier.

Chicken-processing giant Pilgrim’s Pride Corp. (Nasdaq: PPC) announced that the company is doubling the size of its previously announced share-repurchase program to try to help boost shareholder value. The announcement came as the company reported a decrease in earnings for 2015. Greeley-based Pilgrim’s Pride, which is majority-owned by JBS, said its stock repurchase authorization, to be carried out over the next 12 months, has been increased from $150 million to $300 million. The company said in its earnings report that it had bought back $99.2 million in shares during 2015. Pilgrim’s Pride posted net income of $645.9 million, or $2.50 per share for 2015, down from $711.6 million, or $2.74 per share in 2014. Revenue for the year was $8.2 billion, down from $8.6 billion. For the fourth quarter, earnings decreased from $167.2 million, or 64 cents per share in 2014, to $63.1 million, or 25 cents per share in 2015. Revenue slid from $2.1 billion to $2 billion.

Coming off of record sales in 2015, officials for Vestas Wind Systems A/S predicted that 2016 will exceed those figures by more than 6 percent and hit $10 billion. The Danish wind-turbine manufacturer, one of Northern Colorado’s largest employers with factories in Windsor and Brighton, posted 2015 net income of 685 million euros, or $764 million. That comes out to about $3.46 per share, up from a profit of $431 million, or $2.01 per share, in 2014. Revenue for the year hit $9.4 billion, up from $7.7 billion in 2014. Vestas also reported that it has boosted its annual dividend from 58 cents per share in 2014 to $1.02 per share.

Third-quarter revenues were down slightly for Longmont-based manufacturer UQM Technologies Inc. (NYSE: UQM). Total revenue for the quarter that ended Dec. 31 was $1.3 million, down from $1.7 million in the second quarter that ended Sept. 30 but a 59 percent increase from the approximately $800,000 in the third quarter last year. Net loss for the second quarter was $1.4 million, or three cents per common share, duplicating the second-quarter loss.

Array BioPharma Inc. (Nasdaq: ARRY) reported a loss of $24.2 million, or 17 cents per share, on revenue of $35.4 million for its fiscal second quarter that ended Dec. 31. Compared with the same quarter of fiscal 2015, the Boulder-based drug development company’s revenue increased $8.5 million, primarily due to $27.3 million in reimbursement revenue from Novartis. Net loss was roughly triple compared with the $8.6 million, or 6 cents per share, reported for the same quarter in fiscal 2015. For the six months ended Dec. 31, revenue was $51.6 million, compared with $33 million for the same period in fiscal 2015. Net loss for the six months ended Dec, 31 was $45.2 million, or 32 cents per share per share, compared with a net loss of $36.2 million, or 27 cents per share, in the comparable prior-year period.

Medical-device manufacturer Encision Inc. (PK: ECIA) reported revenue of $2.3 million and a loss of $200,000, or 2 cents per share, for its fiscal 2016 third quarter that ended Dec. 31. The Boulder-based company makes tools for surgeons that prevent stray electrosurgical burns in minimally invasive surgery. The results compare with revenue of $2.6 million for a net loss of $417,000, or 4 cents per share, for the same quarter a year ago. For nine months, the company posted revenue of $7 million and a loss of $598,000, or 6 cents per share, compared with revenue of $7.4 million and a loss of 1 million or 10 cents per share, for the same period a year ago.

Advanced Energy Industries Inc. (Nasdaq: AEIS) saw revenue increase 13 percent for its 2015 fiscal year but swung to loss as the Fort Collins-based firm wound down its solar inverter business. The company, which makes power and control products used in semiconductors, flat-panel displays and other electronics, reported financial results for the quarter and year ending Dec. 31. The company turned in a net loss for the year of $158.5 million, or $3.89 per share, compared with a profit of $47 million, or $1.14 per share, in 2014. Sales for 2015 hit $414.8 million, up from $367.3 million.

KUDOS

Taylor Meyer and Jeff Hansen of Fort Collins-based Vaught Frye Larson Architects passed the Colorado Architect Licensing Exams, bringing the firm’s number of licensed architects to seven.

David May, president and chief executive of the Fort Collins Area Chamber of Commerce, was been named the Chamber of Commerce Executive of the Year by the Western Association of Chamber Executives. May received the honor at the association’s annual management conference in Burlingame, Calif.

Sign and visual graphics provider FastSigns of Boulder was named one of the top centers out of more than 600 locations worldwide at the 2016 FastSigns International Convention in Orlando, Fla. The locally owned and operated business received the Pinnacle Club Award, which is given to the centers ranked 26 to 125 in the United States and Canada for sales volume from the previous year, and the Million Dollar Award, which recognizes centers that surpass
$1 million in annual sales. 

Fort Collins-based Coan, Payton & Payne LLC was named a “Top Ranked Law Firm” for 2016 by American Lawyer Media Properties LLC. The 2016 list will be featured in Fortune Magazine’s 2016 Investor’s Guide Issue and on CNNMoney.com, law.com and martindale.com.

Brian Wilson, owner of Boulder FirstLight Homecare, received a top-honors award from market-research firm Home Care Pulse for his location’s excellent service in providing non-medical, in-home care for seniors, new mothers and others.

MERGERS & ACQUISITIONS

Can manufacturer Ball Corp. (NYSE: BLL) began the process to obtain approximately $3.9 billion in senior revolving and term loans that represent the final portion of financing related to Ball’s acquisition of London-based Rexam PLC. Broomfield-based Ball announced in February 2015 that it wanted to buy metal beverage can maker Rexam in a cash-and-stock deal valued at about $6.7 billion in order to stay competitive against other packaging companies. Ball expects to close on its proposed offer for Rexam in the first half of this year. Ball’s Boulder-based subsidiary, Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp. closed the acquisition of Annapolis Junction, Md.-based Wavefront Technologies for an undisclosed sum. Officials don’t expect any immediate employment cuts or additions for either company locally or elsewhere. Wavefront  will keep its facility but become part of Ball Aerospace’s Systems Engineering Solutions business unit, which has the bulk of its 600 employees in Dayton, Ohio.

Iowa-based Heartland Financial USA Inc. (Nasdaq: HTLF), the parent company of Summit Bank & Trust, which has branches in Broomfield, Erie and Thornton, completed its acquisition of CIC Bancshares Inc. for $83.5 million. CIC Bancshares is the parent company of Denver-based Centennial Bank, which has 14 locations in Colorado, including Boulder, Nederland and Denver. The purchase price is subject to adjustments, with approximately 20 percent paid in cash and 80 percent in Heartland common stock.

California data management firm NetApp closed its $870 million acquisition of Boulder-based flash-storage provider SolidFire, which will remain a separate entity and keep its own branding for the foreseeable future. SolidFire, based at 1600 Pearl St., employs 270 people in Boulder and has plans to move into 62,000 square feet of leased space in the Pearl West development in downtown Boulder once construction is complete.

Avago Technologies Ltd. (Nasdaq: AVGO), which employs roughly 1,300 people in Fort Collins, completed its $37 billion acquisition of rival chipmaker Broadcom Corp., a deal that was first announced last May. The merged company will go by the name Broadcom Ltd.

Albuquerque, N.M.-based VaughnCPA purchased Loveland-based Frink & Associates PC.

Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Frink will be renamed VaughnCPA.

MOVES

C.B. & Potts will close its 1415 W. Elizabeth St. location in the Campus West area of Fort Collins after 42 years and relocate it to a new Foothills Parkway location. The Campus West restaurant will remain open through March 12 and the Foothills Parkway restaurant grand opening is scheduled for the last week of March. C.B. & Potts also has a location in Fort Collins at Collindale Golf Course at 1441 E. Horsetooth Road. The C.B. & Potts Brewery, adjacent to the Campus West location, will remain open and continue to brew beers. The building is being renovated and will feature a new taproom.

The owner of Boulder web-development firm Goosetail Labs is migrating his business to Louisville and launching a new coworking space along with it. Goosetail Spaces will be a 7,000-square-foot coworking space at 197 S. 104th St., in the Colorado Technology Center, with opening day slated for March 1. The company’s current office is at 1920 13th St. in Boulder.

Denver-based North Shore Energy LLC anticipates moving from downtown Denver to Broomfield in mid-March as part of a wave of new tenants for the EOS building. Founded in 2009, North Shore, according to its website, is an oil and gas company that has a specific focus on “producing properties that have water treatment and disposal issues.” North Shore has leased 11,750 square feet at EOS, 105 Edgeview Drive, an office building built on spec by developer Hines and opened in 2012.  In addition to North Shore, meanwhile, Clarence, N.Y.-based medical-device firm Greatbatch Medical (NYSE: GB) has leased roughly 13,000 square feet, and Boulder-based investment firm Blue Spruce Capital Corp. has leased nearly 12,000. The new deals put EOS, one of the first speculative office buildings to come online in the region after the recession, at 80 percent occupancy.

Pavement-striping contractor Precise Striping LLC moved its operations from Commerce City to Frederick, where it set up shop in a newly constructed 8,700-square-foot industrial building in the Meadowlark Business Park. Precise Striping, through the entity BBB Holding Company Inc., purchased the building from Steel Dimensions LLC for $1.2 million, according to public records. The steel-framed building at 5978 Esther Circle includes about 2,000 square feet of office space, and the property includes a yard for vehicles. Lafayette-based general contractor Steel Dimensions LLC sold the land to and constructed the building for Precise Striping.

Mental Health Partners relocated its 24/7 Walk-In Crisis Center and Emergency Psychiatric Service in Boulder from the Ryan Wellness Center at 1000 Alpine Ave. to 3180 Airport Road, where the organization provides detoxification and other substance-use services. The organization has locations in Boulder, Broomfield and Longmont.

OPENINGS

Attorney Justie Nicol opened Nicol Law Offices at 1205 W. Elizabeth St. in the Campus West Shops in Fort Collins. She will host the Chamber of Commerce Red Carpet Breakfast from 9 to 10 a.m. March 17 to officially launch her law office. An RSVP to Nicol at 970-670-0738 is required because coffee and light snacks will be provided.

Boulder Art Cinema, a theater that plans to show first-run art and independent films will open Feb. 25 in a 200-seat space attached to the north side of the Boulder Public Library. The cinema,  the result of a partnership announced in November between the library and Downtown Boulder Inc., will operate on Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings in the library’s Canyon Theater at 1001 Arapahoe Ave.

Absolute Threshold Brewery, a taproom and microbrewery, will open by late summer on the western end of the building that houses a Safeway grocery store in the Drake Crossing shopping center at Drake and Taft Hill roads in Fort Collins. Fort Collins-based RB&B Architects will oversee the tenant finish on the business at 2160 W. Drake Road. The building is owned by Dominick’s Finer Foods Inc. of Walnut Creek, Calif.

Swingle Lawn, Tree & Landscape Care will open a 16,000-square-foot office at 4104 Sable Ave. in irestone during the first week of March that will serve as its Northern Colorado headquarters. Swingle will continue to work out of offices in Denver and Fort Collins.

Judy McLean, who had been web-development manager at meat processor JBS USA in Greeley, will open Colorado’s second location of the Apricot Lane women’s apparel franchise on April 15 at 119 W. Oak St. in Fort Collins. The store will replace Fine Art and Frame Co., which on March 1 will move its gallery and showroom across the pedestrian mall to 148 W. Oak St. Its frame shop, however, will remain downstairs at 119 W. Oak, with an entrance on the south end of the building.

Jane Northrup’s startup staffing agency in Fort Collins draws from the most unlikely candidate pool: people who have criminal records. Northrup, a veteran in human resources for a global manufacturing company who also has 10 years of experience helping juveniles and adult offenders find work, in December launched Authority Staffing LLC at 1281 E. Magnolia St. Unit D, No. 144 in Fort Collins.

Alpine Woods Medical is accepting patients as members of its concierge medical practice. Founded by Dr. Eric Hernandez, a board certified physician in family medicine, Alpine Woods Medical’s service area encompasses homes, hotels and offices along the Front Range including but not limited to Berthoud, Boulder, Broomfield, Erie, Estes Park, Lafayette, Longmont, Louisville, Loveland, Lyons, Niwot, Northglenn, Thornton, Superior, Ward and Westminster. More information is at alpinewoodsmedical.com or 720-799-7473.

Transdev On Demand has launched zTrip in Boulder. The new taxi service includes an on-demand car service app to compete with services such as Uber and Lyft.

McAda Drilling Fluids opened at 12757 County Road 8 at U.S. Highway 85 in Fort Lupton.

SERVICES

Waterglen Self Storage, 1202 Waterglen Drive in Fort Collins, signed on as a U-Haul neighborhood dealer. It will offer U-Haul trucks, trailers, towing equipment, support rental items and in-store pick-up for boxes.

The Weld County Board of Commissioners announced improvements to the county’s property portal including a new property data search option and a simplified property map search. When accessing the property data search, users will be directed to a simplified landing page that allows them to search for property information based on name, address, parcel or account number. The data search also presents results in a detailed property report and offers a direct link to the property map. Click on the property-information tab in the upper left-hand box on weldgov.com.

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