Gartner sees big gain in Q4
Many of Gartner Inc.”™s key metrics are back to pre-recession levels, according to CEO Gene Hall, including in its mainstay research segment that reached record levels for new business in the fourth quarter.
Stamford-based Gartner provides research on high-tech markets, products and services. The company has some 850 employees in Fairfield County.
In a conference call with investment analysts, Hall said the company did not hire in the fourth quarter at the pace it originally expected, but reiterated plans to increase the size of the sales force by at least 15 percent this year.
“It was a little bit below what we had thought of ”¦ earlier,” Hall said. “It wasn”™t due to problems hiring people; it was just kind of an operational decision we made. We saw good productivity growth, and think that”™s a great way to grow as well.”
In the fourth quarter, Gartner had a 16 percent gain in revenue to $382 million, and profits were up 43 percent from a year ago to $36.7 million.
For all of 2010, Gartner made $96 million on sales just short of $1.3 billion, up 16 percent and 13 percent, respectively.
MannKind cuts in Danbury
Following a Food & Drug Administration setback over its proposed Afrezza inhaled insulin drug, MannKind Corp. is cutting about 130 jobs at its Danbury plant.
“We have certainly made sure that we retain the critical people that will bring us to the approval that we are pursuing for Afrezza, but otherwise ”¦ all the functions were impacted to a great extent,” said Matthew Pfeffer, CFO of Valencia, Calif.-based MannKind, in a conference call with investment analysts. “This is all happening (in) real time and we are still making a lot of assessments and we have made some very difficult decisions.”
GE makes two energy acquisitions
General Electric Co. is making another major addition to its GE Oil and Gas subsidiary in Houston, spending $2.8 billion to acquire the well support division of Scotland-based John Wood Group plc.
Fairfield-based GE said the deal gives it technology to extract additional oil from mature oil fields and from shale fields which by some estimates are expected to draw at least $40 billion in investment annually over the next six years in North America alone.
The well support group has some 3,800 workers ”“ GE expects the operations to produce $1.1 billion in revenue this year.
Separately, GE acquired technology from Utah-based Wind Tower Systems L.L.C. to enable taller wind-turbine towers, which is becoming an important factor as turbine blades lengthen in size.
Former SAC traders indicted
With two former employees under indictment for insider trading, the Stamford-based hedge fund SAC Capital Advisors issued a statement expressing outrage over the alleged actions, which the company called an active circumvention of its compliance policies and an egregious violation of its ethical standards.
Led by Steven Cohen, SAC is one of Stamford”™s larger employers with more than 800 workers at last report.
SAC said it dismissed the traders last year for poor performance, and that it is cooperating with the government”™s investigation. Multiple former SAC financiers have been the target of probes over alleged insider trading, but the latest indictments mark the first time prosecutors have unveiled charges over their activities while employed at SAC.
Danbury bank lauded for community investment
Savings Bank of Danbury won the highest rating awarded by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. for community lending.
Under the Community Reinvestment Act, FDIC eyes banks”™ record on lending money in the areas where they take deposits.
The Danbury bank received an “outstanding” rating from the FDIC during the assessment period that ended in September 2009, though it fell short of that mark on a lending test that is the most heavily weighted criterion of three, instead getting a “high satisfactory” rating. The company performed best on small-business lending in 2009, originating just 11 percent of its total dollars loaned outside of its market area, down from 16 percent in 2007.
Schwab settles for up to $2.8 million
Charles Schwab & Co. Inc. entered a consent order with the Connecticut Department of Banking, agreeing to pay a $300,000 fine and provide up to $2.5 million to Connecticut investors in Schwab”™s YieldPlus bond investment fund.
Schwab agreed to pay $119 million to settle various federal and state investigations into how it marketed YieldPlus.
The Connecticut Department of Banking stated Schwab failed to curb its sales agents from inaccurately characterizing the fund”™s risks. The settlement does not cover investors who participated in litigation against Schwab over YieldPlus.
Urstadt Biddle buys again in New Milford
For $10.8 million, Urstadt Biddle Properties Inc. is buying Fairfield Plaza in New Milford, a 72,000-square-foot shopping center anchored by T.J. Maxx and Staples.
Greenwich-based Urstadt Biddle is buying the property from Cedar Shopping Centers Inc. The Port Washington, N.Y.-based company acquired the property in 2005 for $9.3 million.
In May 2010, Urstadt Biddle bought the New Milford Shopping Plaza for $22.5 million, with tenants in the 229,000-square-foot center including Stop & Shop and Walmart.
State weighs in on NU merger
Despite Northeast Utilities”™ initial contention that Connecticut lacked jurisdiction to regulate its proposed merger with Massachusetts-based NStar, the Department of Public Utility Control scheduled oral arguments and a hearing on the deal.
In February, NU and NStar teams began meetings to hammer out the integration of the two companies, which have yet to provide specifics on how the deal could impact jobs.
Terex digging out of hole
In 2010, Terex Corp. nearly wiped off the books losses totaling about $400 million from the year before, but for a $45 million loss in the recently concluded fourth quarter.
Westport-based Terex sells a wide range of heavy construction and roadwork equipment, including trucks, excavators and cranes. Despite selling off its mining equipment business last year, sales were up 15 percent for the year to $4.4 billion. Terex expects sales to exceed $5 billion this year.
In a conference call, CEO Ron DeFeo said that since the start of the year, several large Terex customers have significantly increased their orders; on the flip side, the economic recovery has also renewed competitive pricing pressures Terex faces to win contracts.
Photronics zeros in on big Q1
Photronics Inc. expects revenue of at least $119 million, $9 million above the high point of its previous expectations for its first fiscal quarter ending Dec. 31, 2010.
The Brookfield-based company”™s equipment makes photomasks needed to produce circuits on integrated circuits and flat-panel displays. The sales gain came despite what is typically a slow season due to factory shutdowns in various countries in observance of holidays.
Willem Maris, a Photronics director, died Dec. 13; between 1990 and 2000, Maris was CEO of ASML Lithography Holding NV, which is the largest high-tech employer in Fairfield County through its Wilton manufacturing plant.
Arch Chemicals settles with supplier
Arch Chemicals Inc. negotiated a $3 million settlement with Lyondell, a supplier operating under Chapter 11 protection, but paid $1.8 million to cover additional duties on certain products imported into France between 2005 and 2007.
Norwalk-based Arch sells chemicals to keep water and solutions free of contaminants, including pool water. Sales were up 6 percent in the fourth quarter to $312 million when it recorded a $6.2 million profit; for the year, Arch earned $71 million on just under $1.4 billion in revenue, up 11 percent from 2009.
