Roundup: Local venture capital investment increases; Profit declines at Huntington Bancshares; more
Local venture capital deals on rise
Backed by a strong market for stock offerings from venture capital-backed companies nationwide, investment this year by venture capitalists in Pittsburgh deals has reached the highest level since 2007.
Five venture-backed deals of $6 million or more in the third quarter helped push total venture-capital investment to $242.8 million through Sept. 30. Total investment in the July-September period was $104.3 million, according to the MoneyTree Report by PricewaterhouseCoopers and the National Venture Capital Association based on data from Thomson Reuters. The nine-month total this year topped the $239.1 million total for the full-year 2007.
The top five deals were $38 million raised by Thorley Industries LLC, which makes infant products under the name 4moms; $24.6 million by Aquion Energy Inc., a battery manufacturer; $15 million by Hireku Inc., a recruiting software company that uses the name The Resumator Inc.; $10.97 million by Rinovum Women's Health Inc., a maker of a contraception-assistance device; and $6 million by Wombat Security Technologies Inc., a cybersecurity company.
Profit declines at Huntington Bancshares
Huntington Bancshares reported lower profits for the third quarter as expenses increased while it restructured its branch network.
Huntington reported Friday that net income declined 14 percent from a year ago to $147 million, or 18 cents per share, compared to $170.9 million, or 20 cents per share, a year ago. Huntington took on $22.8 million in extra expenses related to buying 24 Bank of America branches in Michigan, an acquisition of the Ohio-based parent company of Advantage Bank, and efforts to consolidate 26 branches by the end of the year.
Overall, noninterest expense increased 13 percent from the previous year to $480.3 million. Meanwhile, noninterest income decreased $6 million, or 3 percent, from a year ago to $247.3 million.
Local manufacturer acquires Calif. company
A company led by two former Latrobe Specialty Metals executives has made its fifth acquisition since being formed two years ago to buy precision manufacturers.
H-D Advanced Manufacturing Co. in Marshall bought Crown Precision Machining Inc. of Irwindale, Calif., for an undisclosed price. Crown makes components for hydraulic systems that control wings, rudders and landing gears in aircraft, principally the Boeing 737.
“Crown is another outstanding addition to H-D as we continue to build a leading global manufacturer of mission-critical products,” said CEO Chris DiSantis, who was CEO of Latrobe Specialty when it was acquired in 2012 by Carpenter Technology Corp. of Reading. Dale Mikus, who was chief financial officer at Latrobe Specialty, is CFO of H-D.
Yellen: Greatly concerned by widening inequality
Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen sounded an alarm Friday about widening economic inequality in the United States, suggesting that America's longstanding identity as a land of opportunity was at stake. The growing gap between the rich and everyone else narrowed slightly during the Great Recession but has since accelerated, Yellen said in a speech at a conference in Boston on economic opportunity. And robust stock market returns during the recovery helped the wealthy outpace middle-class America in wages, employment and home prices. Yellen's extensive comments on economic inequality marked an unusual public departure for a Fed chair. Her predecessors as head of the U.S. central bank tended to focus exclusively on the core Fed issues of interest rates, inflation and unemployment. Indeed, the Fed's mandate doesn't explicitly include issues like income or wealth disparities.
As debt mounts, Caesars in talks with lenders
Caesars Entertainment Corp. says it's talking with some creditors to come up with ways to release pressure on its debt-heavy operations division but financial analysts still see signs of bankruptcy to come. Officials reported the formal talks with its bank lenders in a filing to the Securities and Exchange Commission Friday. That comes a day after it reported its first-in-line creditors would have a claim on Caesars Entertainment Operating Company cash in case it defaulted. The subsidiary had $2.1 billion in cash as of June 30. Caesars has $24.2 billion in debt. Analysts say a bankruptcy decision may be driven by creditors second in line who are owed interest by December and say Caesars has already defaulted on agreements.
Caesars owns 52 casinos in the U.S. and abroad.
