Briefcase, May 13, 2016

CONTRACTS

Beginning in June, National Cannabis Industry Association member businesses will receive free interactive access to market and category-level sales data compiled and contextualized by Boulder-based cannabis market intelligence firm BDS Analytics through an interactive set of dashboards, spreadsheets, and detailed reporting powered by the GreenEdge sales tracking software developed by BDS. Reports will cover insights such as market size and growth, dollar and unit volume, retail price trends and shifts in category mix.

EARNINGS

Danish wind-turbine manufacturer Vestas Wind Systems A/S, which has large manufacturing facilities in Windsor and Brighton, reported record order intake for the first quarter of the year. Vestas reported declines for both profit and revenue versus the first quarter of 2015. Profit came in at 35 million euros, or $39.7 million, down from $63.5 million a year earlier. Revenue, meanwhile, slid 4 percent to $1.66 billion. But company officials said Vestas took in 2.4 gigawatts worth of turbine orders in the quarter, an increase of 37 percent over the first quarter last year. The company’s backlog of wind turbine orders and service agreements now stands at $20.4 billion, up 20 percent from this time last year.

Dynamic Materials Corp. reported smaller operating and net losses for the first quarter than those recorded in the same period last year. Through its NobleClad business, Boulder-based Dynamic Materials (Nasdaq: BOOM) manufactures explosion-welded clad metal plates, which are used to make equipment used in a variety of industries, including oil and gas. Its DynaEnergetics business develops, manufactures and markets advanced explosive components and systems used to perforate oil and gas wells. First-quarter operating losses of $85,000 were reported for the quarter that ended March 31, compared with an operating loss of $3.2 million for the first quarter of 2015. Net losses of $413,000, or 3 cents per diluted share, were down from the $2.4 million, or 17 cents per diluted share, it reported in the first quarter of 2015. The company reported first-quarter sales of $40.5 million, down 1 percent from 2015’s first quarter, and a gross margin of 26 percent, which is unchanged from the same period last year.

Level 3 Communications Inc. (NYSE: LVLT) posted a slight decrease in first-quarter net income on a per-share basis, while revenue grew by 21 million versus the same quarter a year earlier. The Broomfield-based telecommunications giant’s profit came in at $124 million, or 34 cents per diluted share, for the first quarter, compared with $122 million, or 35 cents per diluted share, in the first quarter of 2015. Revenue climbed to $2.05 billion, thanks mostly to a 3.6 percent jump in Core Network Services revenue to $1.95 billion.

Citing tough price competition in China and startup costs for growth projects, Ball Corp. reported a loss of 90 cents per share for the first quarter, compared with earnings of 15 cents a share for the same period last year. During the first quarter that ended March 31, Broomfield-based Ball (NYSE: BLL) had costs related to the startup of a can-manufacturing line at its facility in Monterrey, Mexico, and its Boulder-based aerospace division acquired Wavefront Technologies. Total revenue declined 8.7 percent year over year to $1.76 billion in the first quarter, also falling short of the Zacks estimate of $1.9 billion. Revenue declined 8.4 percent year over year to $937 million in the metal beverage packaging segment for the Americas and Asia; that division’s operating earnings of $102 million were down 18.4 percent year over year.

In the aerospace and technologies segment, sales fell 16.3 percent year over year to $180 million. Operating earnings decreased to $18 million from $20 million in the year-ago quarter. The segment reported a backlog of $729 million. Ball had cash and cash equivalents of $205 million at the end of the first quarter that ended March 31, compared with $229 million at the end of the first quarter of 2015. Its long-term debt increased to $5.4 billion from $3.1 billion at the end of the same quarter last year.

Pilgrim’s Pride Corp. (Nasdaq: PPC) posted first-quarter net income of $118.4 million, a decrease of more than 60 percent from the same period a year ago. The Greeley-based chicken producer’s net income amounted to 46 cents per share, down from 79 cents per share, or $204.2 million, in the first quarter of last year. Sales were down slightly for the quarter, from $2.05 billion to $1.96 billion.

Denver-based independent oil and gas company PDC Energy (Nasdaq: PDCE), a significant producer of oil and natural gas in the Wattenberg Field in Northern Colorado, reported a net loss of $71.5 million, or $1.72 per share. When adjusted for one-time gains and costs, the loss was 89 cents a share. Revenue for the quarter was $90.8 million, also short of analysts’ estimates of $151.2 million. Revenue for the same quarter last year had been $144.6 million. PDC also reported production of 4.6 million barrels of oil equivalent, a 58 percent increase year-over-year, and crude-oil production of 20,965 barrels per day, a 44 percent increase year-over-year and representing 42 percent of total production. The increased production primarily was attributable to continued successful horizontal fracking on the Wattenberg Field, the company said, although production was impacted by a late-March snowstorm that resulted in widespread downtime.

Broadband infrastructure firm Zayo Group Holding Inc. (NYSE: ZAYO) reported a loss of $19.3 million for the third quarter of its fiscal year 2016 that ended March 31. The Boulder-based firm’s loss was $8.5 million higher than the prior quarter’s loss of $10.8 million, but lower than the $53.7 million loss recorded for the same period a year ago. Basic and diluted loss per share during the third quarter was 8 cents. Zayo recorded revenue of $478 million that included $96.1 million from Zayo Canada, the new name for Canadian firm Allstream Inc. that Zayo acquired in November last year for $378 million. During the three months, capital expenditures were $185.1 million, including $11.1 million attributed to Zayo Canada. Entering its fourth quarter, Zayo on April 1 acquired Clearview International LLC, a Texas-based colocation and cloud infrastructure services provider for $18.9 million. As of March 31 the company had $215.2 million of cash and $442.1 million available under its revolving credit facility.

Houston-based Noble Energy Inc. (NYSE: NBL), the second-largest producer of oil and natural gas in northern Colorado, said sales volumes in the Denver-Julesburg Basin in the first quarter were up 2 percent from the same period a year ago to 118,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day, with crude oil representing about half of that. The company drilled 24 new wells in the DJ Basin during the quarter. The company reported net income of $287 million, or 67 cents per diluted share, compared with a loss of $22 million, or 6 cents per share, last year. Revenue slid from $767 million last year to $724 million in this year’s first quarter. Noble has about $5 billion in liquidity, including $953 million in cash on hand and $4 billion in undrawn credit.

Carrizo Oil and Gas Inc., which has been scaling back exploration in the Niobrara shale formation in Weld County, still reported record production for the first quarter. Officials at Houston-based Carrizo (Nasdaq: CRZO) had said in February that the company planned to allocate “a small amount of capital” to its Colorado drilling operations in 2016 as it aims to reduce overall capital spending and focus its efforts on its assets in the Eagle Ford play in Texas. In the report for the quarter that ended March 31, Carrizo said oil production and total production both were 21 percent ahead of the first quarter of 2015. It reported a loss from continuing operations of $311.4 million, or $5.34 per diluted share, compared with a loss of $21.5 million, or 46 cents per basic and diluted share, in the same quarter of 2015. Adjusted net income for the quarter was $9.2 million, or 16 cents per basic and diluted share, compared with $6.4 million, or 14 cents per basic and diluted share, in the first quarter of 2015. For the first quarter of 2016, adjusted earnings before interest, income taxes, depreciation, depletion, and amortization was $92.5 million, a decrease of 9 percent from the prior year’s first quarter as the impact of lower commodity prices more than offset the impact of higher production volumes.

KUDOS

Gerry Agnes, president and chief executive of Boulder-based Elevations Credit Union, was named professional of the year by the Mountain West Credit Union Association at an April 22 dinner at The Broadmoor in Colorado Springs.

Three businesses and one nonprofit from Northern Colorado were named recipients of the BBB Torch Awards for Ethics at the 18th annual event held April 26 at Embassy Suites Loveland and presented by the Better Business Bureau Serving Northern Colorado and Wyoming. Roberts Excavation of Berthoud won the award in the small-business category, while the Fort Collins-based Poudre Valley Rural Electric Association was honored in the medium-sized business category and Fort Collins-based Miramont Fitness Centers took the prize for large businesses.

Project Self-Sufficiency of Loveland-Fort Collins won the award for nonprofit organizations. Nominations are open for the 2017 Torch Awards for both businesses and nonprofits. Details are online at go.bbb.org/1eClUVx.

The Boulder Chamber unveiled the names of the six women who will be honored as 2016 Women Who Light the Community at a June 8 ceremony at the Lionsgate Events Center in Lafayette. Former Rudi’s Organic Bakery chief executive Jane Miller will host the event, with Boulder musician Rebecca Folsom performing. This year’s honorees include Michelle Carpenter and Greta Cain of Boulder High School, Vivian Dullien of Dullien Associates, University of Colorado Boulder law professor Melissa Hart, LaVern Johnson of Lyons and  Bridge House executive director Isabel McDevitt.

Championship Field at Pleasant View Sports Complex in Boulder won Sports Turf Managers Association’s national “Field of the Year” for the Schools and Parks Sporting Grounds division.

Loveland-based Fyn Public Relations won three Silver Pick awards — a gold and two silvers — for its work promoting tourism and economic development projects in 2015 and founder Nicole Yost took home a special Mentor of the Year award during a ceremony in Denver presented by the Colorado chapter of the Public Relations Society of America. The Chairman’s Award went to Jill Burge, vice president of Horizon Travel, and Wayne Sundberg  of Sunday Research and author of “Fort Collins at 150.” Ron Warren was named Volunteer of the Year for the Downtown Welcome Center, and Steve Robinson was named Volunteer of the Year for the State Welcome Center in Fort Collins. Marge Brodahl of The Group Inc. Real Estate was named Ambassador of the Year, Linda Schrader of Residence Inn won the Hospitality Award and Colorado State University received a Business Innovation Award.

MERGERS & ACQUISITIONS

Qualfon, a Fort Collins-based provider of call-center services, acquired San Antonio-based, 700-person Culture.Service.Growth.

Fitness and lifestyle company Gaiam Inc. (Nasdaq: GAIA) sold its majority stake in Louisville-based adventure travel and ecotourism company Natural Habitat Inc., to New York-based Lindblad Expedition Holdings Inc. (Nasdaq: LIND), another ecotourism company focused on ship-based voyages. Lindblad paid about $20 million for an 80.1 percent stake in Natural Habitat. Louisville-based Gaiam had owned 51 percent of Natural Habitat since 2000. Natural Habitat, which employs about 60 people in all, including 50 in Louisville, will keep its branding and continue to operate as a standalone company.

Oil company Synergy Resources Corp. (NYSE: SYRG) struck a deal to buy a sizable chunk of drilling assets in Weld County from Houston-based Noble Energy Inc. (NYSE: NBL) for $505 million. While the assets represent a small portion of Noble’s holdings in the Denver-Julesburg Basin, the acquisition of 33,100 net acres would nearly double the local holdings of Synergy, which last year moved its corporate offices from Platteville to Denver.

Banner Health took over full ownership of Mountain Shadows Medical Association Inc., the nonprofit provider network operated since 1994 by physicians and Banner Health hospitals in Larimer and Weld counties. Mountain Shadows, which did business as Banner Network, has been renamed Banner Network Colorado LLC.

The Denver-based Colorado Visiting Nurse Association and the Greeley-based Rehabilitation and Visiting Nurse Association officially merged their operations. RVNA will become the Northern Colorado division of Colorado VNA but operations and personnel will remain the same in its office at 2105 Clubhouse Drive in Greeley. Current RVNA chief executive Lori Follett will transition into her new position as vice president and chief business development officer.

The Cigarette Store Corp., the Gunbarrel-based company that owns and operates Smoker Friendly retail stores, completed the acquisition of Tobacco Depot and its 13 stores located in and around Tanpa, Fla. Financial terms of the acquisition were not released. Smoker Friendly said it will continue to operate the stores under the Tobacco Depot brand but will begin co-branding the stores “Smoker Friendly” in the near future and will introduce Smoker Friendly’s branded products in the stores.

Illinois-based pet-foods retailer Bentley’s Pet Stuff acquired Greeley-based pet-products chain Natural Pet Marketplace, with plans to open eight new stores along the Front Range by September or October, including locations in Boulder, Fort Collins and Broomfield. All of the current Natural Pet Marketplace locations — 4626 Centerplace Drive in Greeley, 2721 Council Tree Ave. in Fort Collins and 1685 S. Colorado Blvd. in Denver — will be closed temporarily for remodeling and rebranding as Bentley’s locations and will carry the Bentley’s brand.

MOVES

Clinical-stage biotech firm Accera, which is developing a therapy to treat Alzheimer’s disease, moved April 11 from 380 Interlocken Crescent in Broomfield to 3005 Center Green Drive in Boulder to become part of the latter’s bustling life-sciences scene and cash in Boulder’s international reputation as a startup haven.

Westminster-based software company Accurence is moving to 305 S. Arthur Ave. in the Colorado Technology Center in Louisville, where Denver-based Etkin Johnson Real Estate Partners will build a 17,940-square-foot building slated for completion early next year.

NAME CHANGES

Signage on Summit Bank and Trust’s branches in Broomfield, Erie and Thornton changed to Centennial Bank and Trust. Summit was merged with Centennial Bank on Feb. 5 as part of an $83.5 million transaction completed by Heartland Financial USA Inc. (Nasdaq: HTLF). Under the agreement, CIC Bancshares Inc., parent company of Centennial Bank, was acquired by Heartland, merging Centennial and Summit banks. The combined bank has 17 locations across Colorado, including previously existing Centennial banks in Boulder and Nederland.

Will Herdrick had planned to open his Absolute Threshold Brewery this summer at 2160 W. Drake Road in the Drake Crossing shopping center in Fort Collins. He’ll still open this summer, but his taproom will be called Intersect Brewery instead after the company in Sweden that makes Absolut vodka saw it as trademark infringement and let Herdrick know — repeatedly.

Fort Collins-Loveland Municipal Airport is changing its name to Northern Colorado Regional Airport. The cities of Fort Collins and Loveland co-own the airport and will each chip in toward the rebranding efforts.

OPENINGS

Wander Coffee Co. is slated to open in July at 217 Racquette Drive in Fort Collins, and owner Kyle Kmetz aims to add a cafe at the site eventually.

Kona Ice will introduce Boulder to its blend of entertainment and frozen treats with a new food-truck franchise. The truck will appear at fairs, festivals, corporate events, neighborhood socials, church events and birthday parties, and maintains regular weekday and weekend routes. 

The site of Sasquatch Lodge, a downtown Fort Collins restaurant that closed in January, soon will be home to a new steakhouse. Cheba Hut founder Scott Jennings plans to open The Still Whiskey Steaks by the end of this month in the 151 N. College Ave. location.

SERVICES

Boulder-based Wild Alaska Salmon LLC, seller of salmon at Boulder County farmers’ markets, began shipping the meat via a new e-commerce website, WildAlaskaDirect.com, through a partnership with eGourmet Solutions Inc., based in Kansas City, Mo.

SPOT: the State Policy Opportunity Tracker, was released by the Center for the New Energy Economy at Colorado State University and The Nature Conservancy. The publicly available database at spotforcleanenergy.org allows users to quickly review the status of 38 clean-energy policies across all 50 states. It includes policies in the areas of renewable energy, energy efficiency, financing, infrastructure and transportation.

BizWest Staff