Wichita Eagle: Business

Spirit’s 2011 revenue up, income down

Molly McMillin — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 07:09 CST

Spirit AeroSystems turned in strong performance in its core business last year, while it increased production rates on key programs, the company said Thursday.

At the same time, the year was challenging for some programs now under development. Spirit entered the year with 10 programs in development.

The company increased production on Boeing’s 737 single-aisle jet and its 777 wide-body jetliner along with the Airbus A320 program in 2011.

Two top executives leaving Ford

Keith Naughton — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 07:11 CST

Ford CEO Alan Mulally, saying he has no plans to retire, said Thursday that his top finance executive and product-development chief will depart.

Chief Financial Officer Lewis Booth and Derrick Kuzak, group vice president of global product development, will retire April 1, Mulally said on a conference call with reporters. Booth, 63, will be replaced by Bob Shanks, 59, the company’s controller. Kuzak, 60, is being succeeded by Raj Nair, 47, vice president of engineering and global product development.

Mulally, 66, denied speculation that he is planning to retire by the end of next year. He has overseen three consecutive years of profits at Ford by focusing on improving quality and adding fuel-efficient models like the Fiesta subcompact. He came to Ford from Boeing in 2006, as the Dearborn, Mich.-based automaker was beginning three years of losses that would total $30.1 billion.

Women like customer service at Scholfield Honda

Carrie Rengers — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 07:11 CST

You might call Roger Scholfield a ladies’ man, though perhaps not in the traditional sense.

His Scholfield Honda has been recognized a couple of times recently for offering great customer service to women.

On Wednesday, Forbes wrote about a survey that WomenCertified conducted last fall for Dealer Magazine, which Scholfield calls one of the two biggest industry magazines for automobile dealers. Of about 175 dealerships that responded, Scholfield Honda was one of 33 that WomenCertified chose to feature.

Sprint bondholders like iPhone strategy

Sapna Maheshwari and Scott Moritz — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 07:09 CST

Fixed-income investors are taking a more optimistic view of Sprint Nextel than the stock market, with bondholders looking past a fourth-quarter loss and taking comfort from an increase in subscribers.

The third-largest U.S. wireless carrier’s $2 billion of 8.75 percent notes due March 2032 jumped 2.9 cents to 86.9 cents on the dollar to yield 10.3 percent Wednesday, the highest price since Oct. 25, according to Trace. Other debt issues from the Overland Park-based company also rose, even as its stock slid 1.6 percent to $2.41 a share.

Sprint sold 1.8 million Apple iPhones in the fourth quarter, with 40 percent to new customers. It was the first period of sales for a device that the carrier is betting on to lure users and help it rebound from five unprofitable years. The cost of subsidizing the smartphone added to a net loss of $1.3 billion, or 43 cents a share, while revenue jumped 5.1 percent to $8.72 billion.

Pompeo: Air Force needs to be transparent about contract

RICK PLUMLEE — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 06:50 CST

Rep. Mike Pompeo said Thursday he’s still waiting to get a definitive response from the Air Force on why it excluded Hawker Beechcraft’s bid for a light air support contract worth up to nearly $1 billion.

During a teleconference that touched on a wide range of topics, Pompeo said he has sent several letters to secretaries of the Air Force and defense departments asking for an explanation. And he has received a letter back from Secretary of the Air Force Michael Donley.

“It was nearly non-responsive,” the Republican congressman from Wichita said. “There was literally no substantive response contained in the letter whatsoever.”

Still on the market, Union Station is a key ‘connector’ in downtown Wichita

Bill Wilson — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 06:45 CST

It is the iconic piece of real estate in the drive to revitalize Wichita’s downtown: a historic train station that once was the front door to a growing city.

Yet five years after Union Station went on the market at 701 E. Douglas, the ornate, cavernous train station and its 110,000- square-foot campus remains unsold. It’s a potential-filled – yet costly – project that could tie Old Town and Intrust Bank Arena together, or keep them apart if developers and city officials can’t work out a plan to revitalize the historic building.

The building’s owners, Atlanta-based Cox Communications, say nothing has changed: The company remains committed to getting the century-old campus into the hands of a developer who will integrate it into the revival of the Douglas Avenue corridor.

Galichia Heart acquisition includes a dozen physicians

Jerry Siebenmark — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 16:54 CST

Wesley Medical Center officials finally celebrated their parent company’s acquisition of Galichia Heart Hospital — 412 days after HCA first announced the deal.

And officials of the city’s second-largest hospital did so by inviting nearly 100 employees to sit in on the news conference Wednesday at the Cessna Conference Center at Wesley.

Wesley CEO Hugh Tappan started off the conference with a plug about the hospital’s 100th anniversary as well as its support of the American Heart Association’s Go Red campaign, aimed at increasing prevention of heart disease in women.

Clients get physical, mental lift at Elite Training Solutions

Joe Stumpe — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 06:35 CST

Nathan Wadsworth can take 10, 20 or even 100 pounds off your weight the first time you visit Elite Training Solutions.

It’s a temporary condition caused by an anti-gravity treadmill called the Alter G, but it’s no gimmick. The Alter G is used by some of the world’s elite distance runners as well as rehabilitation facilities treating injuries. Wadsworth said he has the only Alter G sports model open to the public in the Midwest.

"I wanted to put in state-of-the-art, top-end equipment for people to train on," Wadsworth said.

Report: Bombardier near pact with Chinese firm

Molly McMillin — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 06:34 CST

German newspaper Hadelsblatt reported this week that Bombardier is close to sealing a substantial agreement with state-owned Commercial Aircraft Corp. of China (Comac).

The agreement involves Comac’s C-919 jet and Bombardier’s CSeries passenger plane. Bombardier spokeswoman Haley Dunne said the company signed a “framework” agreement with Comac last March to collaborate on the two programs.

That initial agreement formed the beginning of other potential agreements. Bombardier and Comac are looking at areas they can work together, such as the supply chain, marketing, customer support and services on the two programs.

WSJ: Hawker hires bankruptcy, restructuring lawyers

Molly McMillin — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 06:44 CST

A Wall Street Journal blog is reporting that Hawker Beechcraft Corp. has hired bankruptcy and restructuring lawyers, according to people familiar with the matter, it said.

Hawker has hired Kirkland & Ellis LLP, a law firm that has advised on large bankruptcies, such as United Airlines, and restructurings, such as Keystone Automotive, the Wall Street Journal said.

“Kirkland’s hiring doesn’t necessarily mean Hawker plans to file for bankruptcy protection or that any other restructuring is imminent,” the report said.

Small business owners need to capitalize on their advantages

By Ken Lerman — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 06:31 CST

No question: Market share leaders and big business competitors can significantly hurt you.

There are, however, several comparative advantages little guys have over big guys. As a business owner, make certain you are pressing these “little guy” advantages.

• You can move on business opportunities much quicker than the big guys.

Hawker Beechcraft hires turnaround specialist as CEO

Molly McMillin — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 06:50 CST

Steve Miller, who calls himself “The Turnaround Kid,” has spent his long career rescuing troubled companies.

A restructuring specialist, Miller, 70, now will work with Wichita’s financially troubled Hawker Beechcraft in an attempt to help it emerge from the bumpy journey it has been on since the 2008 downturn in the business aviation market.

The company’s board of directors appointed Miller CEO of Hawker Beechcraft Inc., effective Tuesday, replacing Bill Boisture. Boisture, however, will continue in his role as chairman of its subsidiary, Hawker Beechcraft Corp.

Wichita-area groups among finalists for leadership training

AMY RENEE LEIKER — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 14:06 CST

Two plans by Wichita-area groups are among a handful of proposals in the running for a $1 million leadership training package, designed to promote civic change at a grassroots level.

The Kansas Leadership Center announced this week interviews are under way for seven finalists vying for its Academy for Team Leadership, the center’s first large, free civic training initiative. Among the finalists is a partnership between the Wichita and Derby school districts, which have proposed creating a new model for high school aimed at boosting the number of students prepared for college or careers upon graduation.

Local nonprofit Visioneering Wichita Health Alliance also is among the finalists. It plans to improve citizen health in a four-county area by focusing on mental and oral health, obesity and diabetes, healthcare access and health disparities.

Frontier Airlines wants to look more like Spirit

SAMANTHA BOMKAMP and JOSHUA FREED — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 15:56 CST

The chief executive at Republic Airways Holdings Inc. says he's trying to make the airline's money-losing Frontier Airlines unit more like lower-cost rivals Spirit Airlines and Allegiant Travel Co.

But he's not going all the way.

Chairman and CEO Bryan Bedford says he wants to continue cutting Frontier's costs as he gets it ready to be spun-off or sold, but he's not willing to start charging lots of new fees like rivals have done.

Project under way to modernize Catholic Care Center

Jerry Siebenmark — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 16:57 CST

Catholic Care Center has begun the last phase of a multi-year, three-phase project to modernize its 178-bed nursing center.

When complete, the approximately nine-month, $2.17 million project will bring some services closer to its residents.

Tom Church, Catholic Care’s CEO, said Tuesday that the project involves separating a wing that houses 60 residents into two neighborhoods. Each neighborhood — comprising about 30 residents each — will have its own dining and living areas fashioned into a homelike setting.

Newton’s Millennium Machine and Tool finds success after Big Dog

Dan Voorhis — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 20:19 CST

Brian Franz and Kris Wondra had one heck of a ride courtesy of Big Dog Motorcycles, but got pretty banged up when the motorcycle maker crashed.

Big Dog was the biggest customer of their company, Millennium Machine and Tool in Newton. It took Millennium from a three-man shop to 49 employees in eight years. At the peak, in 2006, the company had 18 guys whose sole job was to polish aluminum motorcycle wheels.

“It was great while it lasted,” said Franz. “But we saw it coming.”

Boeing orders checks of 787 Dreamliners on fuselage delamination

Ed Dufner — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 14:07 CST

Boeing has ordered inspections of 787 Dreamliners after finding signs of delamination on the fuselage of the first passenger jetliner built chiefly of carbon-fiber composites.

There is no “short-term safety concern” from the fault, which was caused by an incorrect assembly in a support structure within the plane’s aft fuselage, Scott Lefeber, a spokesman, said in a statement. All Nippon Airways Co., the only operator of the 787, said it will continue flying the aircraft.

“We have this condition well-defined and we are making progress on the repair plan,” Lefeber said. Chicago-based Boeing declined to say how many jets showed signs of delamination, a term for the separation that can occur in a composite material when its layers crack and lose strength.

iPhone leads jump in global smartphone shipments

Hugo Miller — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 22:25 CST

Global smartphone shipments surged 55 percent in the fourth quarter, as demand for Apple’s iPhone 4S countered declines by Research In Motion and Nokia, International Data Corp. said Monday.

Shipments advanced to 158 million units from 102 million a year earlier, exceeding IDC’s forecast for a gain of 40 percent, the Framingham, Mass,-based research firm said .

Smartphone demand is increasing as prices for devices become more affordable, encouraging users to upgrade to handsets on which they can browse the Web and send e-mail. Existing users are also trading up to more powerful smartphones such as the iPhone 4S, which went on sale in October. Apple sold 37 million iPhones last quarter, helping the Cupertino, Calif.-based company double its profit in the period.

Kroger seen as take-over bargain

Tara Lachapelle and Rita Nazareth — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 22:25 CST

For potential buyers, there may never be a better time to go grocery shopping in the United States.

Kroger Co., the largest U.S. grocery-store chain and parent of Hutchinson-based Dillon Stores, is trading at an 86 percent discount to its projected sales this fiscal year, leaving it cheaper than 99 percent of companies in the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The Cincinnati-based company, which lost $4.7 billion in market capitalization during the last recession, is now valued at 10.8 times estimated earnings, the lowest level for a U.S. food retailer greater than $2 billion, the data shows.

Kroger, which has increased sales in every year since at least 1987 even as Target and Wal-Mart Stores grabbed market share from other supermarkets, may now become a target for retailers outside the U.S. or private equity firms, according to Northcoast Research Holdings. Valued at $13.7 billion, Kroger could still attract a takeover offer 30 percent above its current price, Point View Wealth Management Inc. said, making it the largest grocery acquisition on record.

Expanding Spirit getting set to ramp up production

Molly McMillin — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 14:42 CST

Driving down K-15 in southeast Wichita, it’s easy to spot the new construction at Spirit AeroSystems.

Two expansions under way will give Spirit extra room to meet increases in 787 Dreamliner and 737 production.

The most noticeable of the expansions, the construction visible from K-15, will allow Spirit to add equipment to produce additional composite barrels of the 787’s forward section. Boeing said it will triple 787 production this year.