Briefcase: Sept. 2, 2016

CLOSINGS

Athletic-apparel maker Pearl Izumi USA Inc. will shut down its division that designs and manufactures shoes and apparel for runners in January to focus solely on its division that makes apparel for bicyclists. The Louisville-based company will eliminate six jobs. Some employees that lost jobs in the running division will join four new employees in the cycling apparel division. Pearl Izumi, a subsidiary of the Shimano Group, built its world headquarters at 101 S. Taylor Ave. in the Colorado Technology Center in 2013. Pearl Izumi employs 234 people worldwide, with 134 of those in Louisville.

A student-run cafe at the University of Colorado Boulder’s business school is getting a tough lesson in what happens when companies don’t comply with state regulations. Trep Cafe has shut down reportedly because it couldn’t afford to pay $224,000 in fines for not having workers compensation insurance during several periods over the past five years. The school will also now work with the state department of labor to determine what, if any, liability CU has in the case.

CONTRACTS

Othopaedic & Spine Center of the Rockies has purchased the naming rights of the Field Club at Colorado State University’s new on-campus football stadium. An official for OCR, 2500 E. Prospect Road, said the length of the deal is 11 years but declined to disclose the dollar value.

The University of Colorado Boulder and aerospace giant Lockheed Martin announced a new $3 million, four-year partnership to establish new academic programs focused on radio-frequency systems.

BeVisible, a Boulder-based online community for Latinos to connect professionally and culturally, formed a partnership with the Latino Startup Alliance in San Francisco. The alliance provides a support network of fellow entrepreneurs, investors, innovators and mentors to U.S. Latino-led technology startup ventures. The partnership between the two organizations aims to empower employers to improve their employment diversity pipeline by connecting with qualified Latino professionals. Together, the organizations have launched the #PipelineMovement campaign.

CampusBird, provider of an interactive online campus map and virtual tour platform for education institutions, welcomed Colorado State University to its roster of clients. CampusBird lets visitors explore the campuses of CSU through a detailed 3-D map and interactive media including video, images, interior layouts, wayfinding routes and other media.

EARNINGS

Boulder-based drug developer Clovis Oncology Inc. (Nasdaq: CLVS) posted a $129.3 million net loss for the second quarter. That amounted to $3.37 per share, compared with a loss of $71.5 million, or $2.10 per share, for the same period a year earlier. Clovis finished the quarter with $378.5 million in cash, cash equivalents and available-for-sale securities. Research and development expenses for the quarter totaled $67.7 million.

Niwot-based shoemaker Crocs Inc. (Nasdaq: CROX) reported revenue of $323.8 million for the second quarter, a 6.3 percent decrease from the same three months of 2015. Net income was $15.5 million, or 13 cents a share, slightly higher than the $13.4 million, or 11 cents a share, it reported in the year-earlier period, as the company reduced expenses. Cash and cash equivalents as of June 30 were $146.7 million compared with $143.3 million as of Dec. 31. Inventory was $169.9 million as of June 30, compared with $168.2 million at the end of last year. According to the earnings statement, the company expects third-quarter revenue between $245 million and $255 million, compared with $274.1 million in the third quarter last year. For all of 2016, Crocs expects revenue to decline in the low single digits compared with the year that ended Dec. 31.

Gaia Inc. (Nasdaq: GAIA) reported a loss of $2.4 million, or 10 cents per share, for its second quarter that ended June 30, as the Louisville-based company transitions into strictly a subscription video-streaming business with titles that focus on health and wellness. In July, Gaia changed its corporate name to Gaia Inc. from Gaiam Inc. and completed the sale of its branded consumer product business to Sequential Brands Group Inc. (Nasdaq: SQBG) and its operating partner Fit For Life LLC. Gross consideration was $167 million, subject to closing costs and standard post-closing adjustments, including net working capital, which is currently scheduled to be finalized by the end of the third quarter. In May, Gaia sold its 51.4 percent interest in Natural Habitat Inc. to Lindblad Expeditions Holdings Inc. (Nasdaq: LIND) for $12.8 million.

Loveland-based Heska Corp. (Nasdaq: HSKA), which makes veterinary diagnostic and specialty products, posted major year-over-year gains in net income and revenue for the second quarter. The company reported net income for the period ending June 30 of $2.5 million, or 35 cents per diluted share, more than double the marks of $1.2 million and 17 cents per share for the same period a year earlier. Revenue for the second quarter came in at $30 million, up 25 percent over a year ago. Heska’s Core Companion Animal Health segment saw sales rise 18 percent to $24.5 million on strong performance from blood testing instruments, consumables and digital imaging, company officials said. The company’s Other Vaccines, Pharmaceuticals and Products segment, meanwhile, climbed 74 percent to $5.5 million. The company finished the second quarter with $6.7 million in cash. Stockholder’s equity increased from $63.5 million as of Dec. 31 to $75.7 million as of June 30.

Broomfield-based restaurant chain Noodles & Co. (Nasdaq: NDLS) reported a loss of $14.1 million for its second quarter that ended June 30, in stark contrast to a profit of $3.1 million for the same period a year ago. Loss per share was 51 cents per share compared with a positive 10 cents per share for the same period a year ago. For the quarter, Noodles revenue increased 5.4 percent to $121.4 million compared with $115.2 million for the second quarter of 2015.

Oil and gas producer PDC Energy Inc. reported a loss of $95 million for its second quarter that ended June 30, nearly double the loss it recorded for the same period a year ago. The loss was driven by a decline in revenue, from $51 million for the second quarter of 2015, to $20.1 million for the second quarter of this year, affected by sustained low commodity prices. Loss per share for the quarter was $2.04 compared with a loss of $1.17 per share for the same quarter a year ago. The Denver-based company has operations in the Wattenberg Field in Northern Colorado and the Utica Shale in Southeastern Ohio.

RGS Energy (Nasdaq: RGSE), an installer of residential and small-commercial rooftop solar equipment based in Louisville, reported a loss of $3.5 million for its second quarter, down only slightly from the $3.7 million loss it posted in the first quarter, as it continues to execute a “business-turnaround strategy.” The loss amounted to $5.42 per share. RGS generated revenue of $4.9 million for the quarter that ended June 30, compared with $14.727 million for the same period a year ago.

Surna Inc. (OTCQB: SRNA), a Boulder-based tech firm that develops controlled growing environments for cannabis, reported a 13 percent increase in revenue and a decrease in loss for its second quarter that ended June 30 compared with the same period a year ago. Revenue reached $1.9 million for the quarter compared with $1.7 million for the same period a year earlier. The company’s net loss for the quarter was $704,000, or 0 cents per share, compared with $976,000, or 1 cent per share. For the first six months of the year, Surna’s revenue grew 72 percent to $4.4 million, up from $2.5 million for the first six months of 2015. Net loss for the first six months is at $1.4 million, or 1 cent per share, compared with $2.4 million, or 2 cents per share, for the same period in 2015.

Denver-based Synergy Resources Corp. (NYSE: SYRG), a significant producer of oil and natural gas in Northern Colorado, posted a second-quarter net loss of $153.8 million as the industry continues to deal with the impacts of low commodity prices. Synergy, which last year moved its corporate offices from Platteville to Denver, saw revenue decline to $23.9 million for the period ending June 30, down $4.4 million from the same period a year ago despite production increasing by 34 percent over the same timeframe. The company’s net loss amounted to 89 cents per share and widened significantly from a loss of $4.6 million, or 4 cents per share, for the quarter last year. Production increased from 755,000 barrels of oil equivalent to just more than 1 million barrels.

UQM Technologies Inc. (NYSE: UQM) reported a loss of $2 million, or 4 cents per share, for the first quarter of its fiscal year 2017 that ended June 30. UQM designs and manufactures electric motors, generators, power electronic controllers and fuel-cell compressors for the commercial truck, bus, automotive, marine, military and industrial markets. The company, with operations in southwest Weld County, posted revenue of $1.4 million, compared with $741,000 in the first quarter last year, an increase of 94 percent. UQM in June struck a deal to sell a controlling stake in the company to a subsidiary of Hong Kong-based Hybrid Kinetic Group Ltd. for $48 million in cash.

Bandwidth infrastructure provider Zayo Group Inc. (NYSE: ZAYO) reported a net loss of $76.2 million for the company’s 2016 fiscal year, which ended June 30. Boulder-based Zayo’s loss amounted to 31 cents per share and shrunk from $155.3 million, or 66 cents per share, for the previous year. Revenue, meanwhile, climbed to $1.72 billion, up from $1.35 billion the year before. For the fourth quarter, the company posted a net loss of $30.9 million, an increase of $11.6 million versus the previous quarter. Revenue, however, leaped 40 percent from the year before to $507.3 million. The company, which closed the acquisition of Texas-based Clearview International during the quarter, finished the period with $170.7 million in cash and $442.1 million available under a revolving credit facility.

KUDOS

Three University of Colorado Boulder alumni are among the four people chosen for induction as part of the Colorado Space Heroes Hall of Fame’s first class. The Hall was created earlier this year by the Colorado Springs-based Space Foundation, an international nonprofit advocacy group for space-related activities. Alan Stern, Ronald Sega, Peter Teets and retired Air Force Gen. James Hartinger will be inducted during an Oct. 7 ceremony in Denver.

MERGERS & ACQUISITIONS

New York-based data-solutions provider Return Path sold its Broomfield-based email fraud protection business unit to Proofpoint Inc. for $18 million. Proofpoint (Nasdaq: PFPT), headquartered in the Denver Tech Center, will take over Return Path’s EFP division offices at 8001 Arista Place, Suite 300, in Broomfield and hire all existing employees of the division. Proofpoint paid $3.8 million at the close of the transaction and will spend the remaining $14.2 million over two years to complete the deal.

Denver tech firm FullContact Inc. acquired Boulder startup Conspire, a fellow Techstars graduate. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. FullContact makes a contact-management software platform that helps individuals and companies keep contacts organized across multiple apps. The acquisition of Conspire aims to make that offering more robust. Conspire’s platform, launched early last year, analyzes headers from users’ email messages to see the strength of their connections — and the connections’ connections — to help grow their professional networks.

MOVES

Colorado Carriage and Wagon moved out of Fort Collins to Bellvue, reportedly due largely to issues with Old Town’s population of transients.

Pinnacle Foods plans to move production of Evol frozen foods to Fayetteville, Ark., a move that will wipe out 85 local jobs at Evol’s Boulder production facility. The move is expected to take place in the first quarter of next year, as Pinnacle officials said Evol has outgrown its local facility. New Jersey-based Pinnacle last year acquired Boulder Brands — then the parent company of Evol and several other local food brands.

Facing the sale of its building in Windsor, Longview Creamery plans to move to Greeley next month and halt its milk business. Longview Creamery will close its Cozy Cow Store and move its wholesale ice cream and cheese business to a commercial space at 931 16th St. in Greeley. But the company will stop bottling and selling milk.

OPENINGS

A Bad Daddy’s Burger Bar was to open Sept. 2, in the redeveloped Foothills mall in Fort Collins, The eatery will be adjacent to Cinemark Theaters at 347 E. Foothills Parkway, Unit 110.

Southeast Fort Collins will get more than 12,000 square feet of new coworking space this fall when Michael Ollom opens a franchised location of Louisville-based Office Evolution. Ollom is finalizing lease arrangements for the space in the Villaggio development at East Harmony Road and Snow Mesa Drive.

Boulder-based engineering firm Special Aerospace Services opened a new engineering office in Huntsville, Ala., to capitalize on relationships with space and defense contractors there.

Richard and Brenda Lucio, who received BizWest’s 2016 Entrepreneur of the Year award for Greeley, are taking the Blue Agave concept they launched two years ago in Fort Collins to downtown Denver’s 16th Street Mall. The 5,800-square-foot Denver space, nearly identical in size to that of the first Blue Agave location at 201 S. College Ave. in downtown Fort Collins, will face the pedestrian and transit mall just east of The Cheesecake Factory in the Tabor Center. The Lucios opened their first Northern Colorado restaurant, Coyote’s Southwestern Grill, in 1999 at 5250 W. Ninth St. Drive in Greeley.

Uber finally has some competition in Larimer and Weld counties. Lyft, the other major on-demand transportation service, launched in Northern Colorado in August. As with Uber, travelers can get to their destination by downloading an app to their smartphones, creating an account and adding a credit or debit card, and then summoning a car driven by an independent contractor to their GPS-designated location. No cash is exchanged, and the charge is assessed at the end of the ride. Riders and drivers then get the chance to rate each other, from one to five stars. Unlike Uber, the Lyft app allows riders to tip drivers.

Fresh Ideas Group, a public-relations and marketing firm based in Boulder, has expanded by opening an office in Denver. Fresh Ideas Group, founded in 1996, specializes in serving clients in the natural products and organic industry. Its new office in Denver is at 3350 Brighton Blvd., Suite 201, in The Source, an artisan food market that occupies a former 1880s brick foundry building in Denver’s River North District.

Crystal Joys, with locations in Loveland and Longmont, will open this month at 630 S. College Ave. in Fort Collins. A retailer of gems, precious stones and jewelry, Crystal Joys also works with Sample Supports to provide work skills to those with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

SERVICES

The National Center for Atmospheric Research is making its Sun4Cast system available to utilities and private forecasting companies. The system improves predictions of clouds and other conditions, allowing utilities a better idea of when to draw energy from solar arrays connected to their electrical grids.

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