Amgen launches $5B buyback
Amgen said Nov. 7 that it plans to buy back $5 billion of its shares as part of a push to return profit to stockholders. Shares of the Thousand Oaks-based drugmaker jumped 4.5 percent in morning trading. Moody’s Investors Service and Fitch Ratings lowered their ratings on Amgen debt after the announcement because the biotech Read More →
Earnings roundup: Profits return for most area banks
Banks based in the Tri-Counties reported mostly healthier third-quarter earnings, led by the largest lender in the region, which now has a full year of profits under its belt after a recapilization deal and ownership change last year. Here’s a closer look at how tri-county banks performed in the third quarter: Pacific Capital Bancorp [wikichart Read More →
Ventura County CEO outlines savings
Ventura County Chief Executive Officer Michael Powers told a community audience at CSU Channel Islands on Friday that the county has saved about $8 million over three years by applying business and economic principles in support of critical public services. Those savings have enabled the county to direct needed resources to the Sheriff’s Department, District Read More →
Deckers profits jump 48% on Ugg sales
Deckers Outdoor Corp. said profits jumped 48 percent in the third quarter after getting a big leg-up from Ugg brand sales. The Goleta-based shoe company increased its full-year outlook after the better-than-expected third quarter. Deckers company earned $62.3 million, or $1.59 per share as sales jumped 49.1 percent to $414.4 million in the third-quarter. Ugg Read More →
PCBC posts $20.5M profit year after recap deal
Pacific Capital Bancorp, parent of Santa Barbara Bank & Trust, said Oct. 27 that it earned $20.5 million in the third quarter of 2011, marking its first full year of profits since a team of Texas bankers recapitalized it last year. In August 2010, Dallas-based Ford Financial Fund, led by veteran bankers Gerald Ford and Read More →
How screwed are we? NPR reporters explain
“So, like, how screwed are we?” That was the question that the presenters of “Planet Money,” the popular and humorous economics segment on National Public Radio, posed to a lively audience at UC Santa Barbara on Oct. 26. Correspondents David Kestenbaum and Alex Blumberg did a live stage version of their popular NPR series, which Read More →
