Subject: Friday Morning Briefing
From: Talk Business <[email-masked]>
To: <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri, 22 Apr 2016 11:46:45 +0000
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HOME BANCSHARES 1Q EARNINGS JUMP 33%, MIKE BEEBE JOINS BOARD AMIDST 2-FOR-1 STOCK SPLIT: Conway-based Home Bancshares continues to execute on its fast-track growth operations plan as the bank holding company posted a 33% increase in its first quarter earnings and saw its 20th straight quarter of profit growth, company officials announced before the opening of trade on Thursday (April 21).

For the period ended March 31, Home Bancshares – parent company to Centennial Bank – earnings jumped to $41.4 million, or 59 cents per share, compared to $31.1 million or 46 cents per share for the same quarter in 2014.

By nightfall, the bank announced that former Arkansas Gov. Mike Beebe (D) was named to its board of directors. Home Bancshares' board also raised its quarterly dividend and announced that it would embark on a two-for-one stock split in June. Read all the details here (http://talkbusiness.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=4403c46412536341322b6e88c&id=7ad25112a8&e=b5f4886f5f) .

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SOUTHWESTERN ENERGY POSTS $1.13 BILLION 1Q LOSS: Southwestern Energy Corp. losses in the first quarter topped a billion dollars as the Houston-based driller adjusted its operations to weather the current industry downturn that has halted the company’s drilling activity due to depressed natural gas prices. For the period ended March 31, the former Fayetteville-based oil and gas firm reported a net loss of $1.13 billion, or $3.03 per share, compared to earnings of $46 million, or 12 cents in the same period a year ago. Total revenue declined 38% to $579 million, compared to $933 million a year ago. When adjusting for impairment charges and pretax costs, Southwestern reported losses of $32 million, or eight cents per share. Read more here (http://talkbusiness.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=4403c46412536341322b6e88c&id=8390bfb1bb&e=b5f4886f5f) .

ST. BERNARDS EXPANSION ON TRACK TO COMPLETE $130 MILLION INVESTMENT BY 2019: A $130 million, four-phase construction project in downtown Jonesboro is picking up steam, with plans already being made for the future, an official with St. Bernards Healthcare said Thursday (April 21). St. Bernards VP for Senior and Affiliated Services Kevin Hodges said the first phase, which is about 70% complete, involves a $9 million expansion for the cancer treatment center at St. Bernards. Hodges said the expansion will put the hospital’s medical oncologists and other cancer related programs under one roof. The $8 million second phase, with about 70% of the design work complete, will expand the hospital’s heart care center and allow doctors to be able to use services like cardiac catheterization. Read more on the expansion plans' progress at this link (http://talkbusiness.us2.list-manage2.com/track/click?u=4403c46412536341322b6e88c&id=c2b574335e&e=b5f4886f5f) .

SIMMONS FIRST SEES TRIPLE-DIGIT 1Q PROFIT GROWTH ON STRONG LOAN PORTFOLIO: Simmons First National Corp.’s quarterly profits jumped more than 169% as the Pine Bluff community bank continued to see strong growth in its loan portfolio during the first three months of 2016. For the period ended March 31, 2016, Simmons First reported (http://talkbusiness.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=4403c46412536341322b6e88c&id=e158663809&e=b5f4886f5f) net income of $23.5 million, or 77 cents per share, compared to $8.7 million, or 39 cents per share a year ago. Simmons First saw revenue of $99.7 million in the three month period. Wall Street had expected the Arkansas bank to report first quarter earnings of 79 cents per share on revenue of nearly $103 million, according to Thomson Reuters.

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GOV. HUTCHINSON EXECUTES LINE-ITEM VETO ON ARKANSAS WORKS, SAYS HIGHWAY FUNDING SESSION IS NEXT: At about 4:15 p.m. Thursday (April 21), as reporters waited in the Governor’s Conference room, applause could be heard through the walls separating it and Gov. Asa Hutchinson’s executive offices. Moments later, he emerged to announce that, as expected, he had signed the law funding Arkansas Works while executing a line-item veto of an amendment that would have ended the program this year. Earlier in the day, the Arkansas House approved the measure with 76 votes on its first try.

"The appropriation bill is signed, the funding continues, the three-fourths majority has been achieved, the majority vote of both houses,” he said. “The will of both houses and both parties has been accomplished and has been carried out.” Read more of the governor's comments on the quirky process and what's next for a possible highway special session at this link (http://talkbusiness.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=4403c46412536341322b6e88c&id=91f6665a9b&e=b5f4886f5f) .

SEN. BOOZMAN DISCUSSES THE PRESIDENTIAL RACE, U.S.-SAUDI RELATIONS: U.S. Senator John Boozman, R-Arkansas, in his monthly visit with content partner KASU, talked about the candidates for President, international tensions, and recent meetings with the Jonesboro Chamber of Commerce and Arkansas veterans. Boozman spoke Thursday about the Republican and Democratic campaigns, as well as a veterans visit with lawmakers and staff at a Washington, D.C. airport. Access the full interview here (http://talkbusiness.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=4403c46412536341322b6e88c&id=e19076bf5f&e=b5f4886f5f) .

ERIC BAKER: JAMES MADISON PREDICTED DONALD TRUMP - UA-Fort Smith political science professor Dr. Eric Baker says founding father James Madison predicted the rise of Donald Trump in this nation's early days. Baker says: "The writers of our Constitution believed in popular sovereignty, that legitimate government had to be rooted in the will of the people. But at the same time, the Framers were suspicious of populism. That is why in the Constitution as originally written only the House was directly elected by the people. The president, the Senate and the federal courts were indirectly elected by the people through intermediaries thought to be responsible and sober." Read his full take at this link (http://talkbusiness.us2.list-manage1.com/track/click?u=4403c46412536341322b6e88c&id=c72ce737f8&e=b5f4886f5f) .

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OPEC CHIEF SIGNALS THAT CARTEL MAY FREEZE OIL OUTPUT IN JUNE: Secretary General Abdalla S. El-Badri said Thursday that the global crude oil market cartel needs to try and return to a more “balanced situation” where energy commodity investors feel more comfortable and confident in making the necessary long-term investments, and not allow supply to outstrip demand. Ed-Bardi's remarks, delivered at the 17th International Oil Summit in Paris, led to speculation that the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) could halt or lower crude oil at the 13-nation oil producing group’s next meeting in June.

The OPEC chief also forecasted in his presentation the global energy demand to increase by almost 50% by 2040, with non-fossil fuel energy expected to make up about 22% of the global energy mix. To view  El-Badri’s presentation and entire transcript of his Paris speech, click here (http://talkbusiness.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=4403c46412536341322b6e88c&id=792220083a&e=b5f4886f5f) .

U.S. ENERGY OFFICIALS DISCUSS POWER GRID MODERNIZATION EFFORTS: Representatives from the U.S. Department of Energy and several of its national laboratories gave presentations on Thursday concerning the modernization of the nation’s electric power grid at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s April meeting. Some of the topics discussed at the forum included grid security threats, the nation’s changing energy mix, challenges of extreme catastrophic events such as a terrorist strike or hurricane, and new energy market opportunities.

The presentations were made by presentations of DOE, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Idaho National Laboratory, Sandia National Laboratories, and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. To view the presentations, click here (http://talkbusiness.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=4403c46412536341322b6e88c&id=fde0eb3b03&e=b5f4886f5f) .
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"The key thing was transparency. There hasn’t been any hiding the ball. Everybody today knew exactly what they were voting on, why they were voting on it, what they were trying to accomplish. The opposition knew that. They scored it. They said this will count against you. So everybody knew what was happening. That’s not trickery. That is simply saying, ‘I will utilize my line-item veto strategy in order to accomplish something that is important for our state.’” - Gov. Asa Hutchinson.

“We continue to attract highly valued talent to our organization, including the addition of Mike Beebe to our board of directors." - John Allison, Home Bancshares Chairman.

"We continue to pursue growth opportunities and improvement in our organization as evidenced by our recent charter conversion to a state member bank." - Simmons First Chairman and CEO George Makris, Jr.
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