Subject: Friday Morning Briefing
From: Talk Business <[email-masked]>
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Date: Fri, 20 May 2016 11:33:41 +0000
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FACING COMPETITIVE PRESSURES, WALMART U.S. COMMITS TO LOWER PRICES AHEAD OF SCHEDULE: Everyday low prices are the root mission of Walmart U.S., and it’s one of the lowest cost retailers on the planet. But intense competition from Aldi and other discounters continue to erode the retailer’s price gap the retail giant once held. With Lidl preparing its U.S. store launch in 2018, Walmart is moving up its plans to invest in lower prices nearly a full year ahead of schedule.

“In the quarter we did a better job of managing costs. SG&A discipline improved, as our store teams did a good job of more closely aligning expenses with sales growth,” Wal-Mart CEO Doug McMillon said during the retailer’s first quarter earnings call on Thursday (May 19). (SG&A refers to the sum of all direct and indirect selling expenses and all general and administrative expenses of a company.)

In Walmart U.S., gross margins improved 0.44%. Gross margin benefited from improved shrink and lower transportation costs as well as reduced procurement and operational costs. Total inventory declined 3.5% from a year ago and comp store inventory was down 5.7% while executives report better in-stock levels across the U.S. stores. Read more here (http://talkbusiness.us2.list-manage1.com/track/click?u=4403c46412536341322b6e88c&id=c6bb11a094&e=b5f4886f5f) on the retail giant's quarterly report and plans for the future.

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QUARTERLY INCOME DOWN ALMOST 8% AT WAL-MART, BUT EARNINGS AND REVENUE BEAT ESTIMATES: Net income for Wal-Mart Stores was down almost 8% in the fiscal first quarter, but the retailer posted higher revenue and per share earnings than equity analysts expected. Bentonville-based Wal-Mart recorded net income for the quarter of $3.079 billion, down 7.8% from the same quarter in the previous fiscal year. Per share earnings of 98 cents blew past the consensus estimate of 88 cents per share. Total revenue of $115.904 billion was up 0.9% compared to the same quarter in the previous fiscal year, and was well above the consensus estimate of $113.22 billion. Read more here (http://talkbusiness.us2.list-manage1.com/track/click?u=4403c46412536341322b6e88c&id=24178e957b&e=b5f4886f5f) .

SAN DIEGO FIRM INVESTS $10 MILLION IN DOWNTOWN BENTONVILLE TOWNHOUSE PROJECT: One of the most desirable zip codes for residential development is found in downtown Bentonville where single family housing comes at a premium near $250 per-square foot. That desirability has resulted in a $10 million townhouse project in the city’s Market District. San Diego-based Picture Red broke ground on the new residential development in downtown Bentonville’s Market District on Thursday (May 19.) The project, Tourmaline Urban Lofts, will feature 15 semi-attached townhouses starting at 2,000 square feet. Read more here (http://talkbusiness.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=4403c46412536341322b6e88c&id=2124d770da&e=b5f4886f5f) .

J.B. HUNT TRANSPORT DONATES $5 MILLION TOWARD ARKANSAS CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL IN SPRINGDALE: In less than two weeks, Arkansas Children’s Hospital has garnered $13 million in donations toward its Northwest Arkansas facility under construction in Springdale. Officials with J.B. Hunt Transport announced Thursday (http://talkbusiness.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=4403c46412536341322b6e88c&id=e9d0c1566d&e=b5f4886f5f) (May 19) a $5 million contribution to the planned hospital. The gift comes on the heels of $8 million given earlier this month by Walmart and the Walmart Foundation. All the funds go toward the $167 million construction project that will bring specialty pediatric care closer to home for more than 200,000 children in the region.

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GOVERNOR'S HIGHWAY BILL COULD BE HEADED TO NEW COMMITTEE; COMPETING BILL ADVANCES: Gov. Asa Hutchinson's highway plan moved quickly in a House committee, but got bogged down in the Arkansas Senate. The highway funding plan couldn't get transferred to a more favorable Senate committee and it stalled in the Senate Transportation committee on a 4-4 vote, with four Republicans opposing the governor's plan.

When the House version of the bill makes its way to the Senate, as expected, sponsor Sen. Bart Hester, R-Cave Springs, said he has the votes to get the bill moved to the Senate Revenue and Tax committee on Friday. Read more about the legislative drama at this link (http://talkbusiness.us2.list-manage2.com/track/click?u=4403c46412536341322b6e88c&id=4daab8bebb&e=b5f4886f5f) .

COMMITTEES PASS BILLS ENDING WORKERS’ COMP FUND: Legislators voted out of committee Thursday a bill that would close to new claims the Workers’ Compensation Commission’s Death and Permanent Total Disability Trust Fund, and eventually end the fund completely. Meeting in special session, legislators in both the House and Senate Insurance and Commerce Committees voted to pass their chamber’s version with little discussion. The Death and Permanent Total Disability Trust Fund provides benefits to seriously injured employees and dependents of those killed on the job. Read more on the topic here (http://talkbusiness.us2.list-manage1.com/track/click?u=4403c46412536341322b6e88c&id=5d56b95e4d&e=b5f4886f5f) .

U.S. SENATE PASSES PROVISION ALLOWING ARKANSAS TO DESIGNATE PORTION OF U.S. 67 ‘FUTURE I-57’: U.S. Sen. John Boozman, R-Ark., on Thursday (May 19) applauded Senate passage of the Fiscal Year 2017 Transportation, Housing and Urban Development (THUD) bill that includes a provision enabling Arkansas to designate a portion of Highway 67 from North Little Rock to Walnut Ridge as “Future I-57.”

“Arkansas has invested hundreds of millions of dollars to make Highway 67 an interstate-quality road, and this brings our state one step closer to calling it what it is, Future Interstate 57,” said Boozman (http://talkbusiness.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=4403c46412536341322b6e88c&id=f672b6a2fb&e=b5f4886f5f) , a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee. The provision would also give Arkansas the ability to request that any segment of the road that is built to interstate standards be officially added to the federal interstate system as “I-57.”

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PLAINS ALL AMERICAN INDICTED IN CALIFORNIA FOR 2015 OIL SPILL: Plains All American Pipeline and one of its employees were indicted by a California state grand jury this week for alleged violations of California law in connection with the May 19, 2015 accidental oil release near Santa Barbara. The indictment included a total of 46 counts, 10 of which relate to the release of crude oil or reporting of the release and 36 of which relate to wildlife alleged to have been taken as a result of the accidental release.

Plains said it was deeply disappointed by the decision of the California Attorney General and Santa Barbara District Attorney to pursue criminal charges against Plains and one of its employees in connection with the 2015 accident.

Plains still has plans to construct the 440-mile, 20-inch Diamond Pipeline project across the state of Arkansas, bringing up to 200,000 barrels per day of domestic sweet crude from the company’s Cushing, Okla. terminal to Valero’s refinery complex in Memphis, Tenn. Construction on that $900 million project is expected to begin later this year with a completion target for late 2017.

GLOBAL CRUDE PRICES NEAR $50 A BARREL; BLOATED U.S. STOCKPILES, FED INTEREST RATE TALK HALT RALLY: Brent and West Texas Intermediate crude reached their highest point this week since November, nearing the $50 a barrel mark in trading on Thursday before tumbling on news that U.S. oil stockpiles unexpectedly spiked and the Federal Reserve may raise interest rates in June. In Thursday’s trade on the New York Mercantile Exchange, U.S. light, sweet crude for June delivery fell 2.2%, or $1.08 to $47.11 a barrel. July Brent futures slid 2.6%, or $1.28 at $47.64 a barrel on London’s ICE Futures exchange.

On Wednesday, the U.S. Energy Information Administration reported that U.S. crude oil stockpiles were nearing all-time highs as inventories rose by 1.3 million barrels to 541.3 million barrels last week. Also, minutes released mid-week from the Fed’s April meeting gave strong indications that the monetary panel will likely raise rates at next month’s FOMC gathering.

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“They wanted to have the exercise, and they said, ‘Oh, no, come here. You’ll get a fair hearing.’ … Whatever. They wanted to come in there and be able to vote it down, and they got that opportunity. But they won’t get that opportunity again." - Sen. Bart Hester, R-Cave Springs, speaking about the Senate Transportation committee, which did not advance his version of the Governor's highway funding plan.

“Over time, we intend to lower prices further in a deliberate, strategic way to drive our productivity loop. Doing this in a sustainable way takes time and we’re seeing progress.” - Wal-Mart CEO Doug McMillon.

"The construction of a children’s hospital in this community is a historic and necessary next step for the advancement of pediatric healthcare in the region." - John Roberts, president and CEO of J.B. Hunt, which donated $5 million to the construction of a northwest Arkansas campus of Arkansas Children's Hospital.
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