Missouri orders inquiry
into bonuses, pay at Aquila
Jefferson City, Mo. – The Missouri Public Service Commission on Tuesday ordered its staff to look into compensation and bonuses
Missouri orders inquiry into bonuses, pay at Aquila
given to Aquila Inc. executives.
Missouri Public Counsel Lewis Mills, the state’s official consumer advocate, requested a management audit in March.
One of his objections was to the company’s awarding millions of dollars in bonuses to top executives who ran the company while the stock price plummeted from $40 a share in 2001 to almost nothing a year later.
Aquila serves 1.3 million electric and natural-gas customers in Kansas, Colorado, Missouri, Nebraska, Michigan, Minnesota and Iowa.
The company denies that customers have paid for executives’ bonuses. Aquila spokesman Curt Floerchinger declined to comment on the allegations but said of the audit, “We plan to work in full cooperation with the commission.”
Shares of Aquila closed at $3.98 Tuesday.
WINDSOR
New ethanol plant
up and producing
Front Range Energy LLC and Pacific Ethanol Inc. announced Tuesday the completion of Front Range Energy’s ethanol plant in Windsor.
The facility has a capacity of 40 million gallons per year of fuel ethanol.
The plant produced its first ethanol Friday and expects to ship its first loads of ethanol and wet distillers grains, a byproduct, this week.
Pacific Ethanol, in addition to marketing all of the fuel ethanol and distillers grains output of the Windsor plant, has a contract to procure corn, manage plant operations and market products for Front Range Energy.
LOUISVILLE
Replidyne plans IPO of 5 million shares
Replidyne Inc., a biotechnology company focused on antibiotics, announced details of its forthcoming initial public offering in a filing Tuesday.
The company plans to offer 5 million shares at a starting price of $14 to $16 per share.
Replidyne will trade on the Nasdaq Stock Market under the symbol RDYN.
Proceeds of the IPO will fund clinical trials and new research.
Despite raising $62.5 million in one of the largest venture-capital deals of 2005, Replidyne needs more cash because the cost of bringing a new drug to market can surpass $800 million.
WASHINGTON
Crude-oil futures drop for a 2nd day
Crude-oil futures tumbled for the second straight day Tuesday – part of a broader commodity sell-off that analysts ascribed to nervousness about rising inflation and interest rates.
There is also evidence that worldwide energy demand is growing more slowly. A barrel of light crude dropped $1.80 to $68.56 on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
A.G. Edwards & Sons commodity analyst Bill O’Grady said that as central banks make it more expensive to borrow money, they are reversing one of the key factors that helped foster multiyear run-ups – or what he called “asset bubbles” – in real estate, emerging-market stock prices and commodities.
MINNEAPOLIS
Sales, cost-cutting buoy Best Buy profits
Best Buy Co. Inc. said Tuesday its first-quarter profits rose almost 38 percent as customers bought more big-ticket items such as flat-panel TVs while the company’s cost-cutting measures took effect.
NEW YORK
Goldman Sachs
has record earnings
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. on Tuesday reported sharp gains from investment banking and trading that helped shield the Wall Street leader from choppy market conditions, but investors remained unsure how long this could be kept up.
The world’s top investment bank joined Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. in reporting second-quarter numbers that solidified record first-half earnings.
But eroding market conditions that began in May have left many guessing if this is all about to change – sending investors to the exits.
WESTMINSTER
Allos in position
for stock offering
Biopharmaceutical company Allos Therapeutics Inc. has filed a shelf registration to sell up to $100 million of its stock, debt, warrants and units.
The company said it didn’t have specifics of the offering or a time frame.
Allos said it would use the money raised to fund clinical trials and development of its lead drug candidate, Efaproxyn, which is being tested in women undergoing treatment for brain tumors as the result of breast cancer.
BOULDER
Rally Software secures new financing
Rally Software Development Corp., a provider of on-demand and agile software technologies, said Tuesday it closed a second round of financing totaling $8 million.
The deal was led by Vista Ventures, which operates out of Boulder and Fort Collins.
Previous Rally investors Mobius Venture Capital and Boulder Ventures contributed to the financing.
The funds will help Rally accelerate growth, said chief executive Tim Miller.
DENVER
Calif. hotel to close for redevelopment
RockResorts, the luxury-hotel subsidiary of Avon-based Vail Resorts Inc., announced Tuesday that the Lodge at Rancho Mirage in Rancho Mirage, Calif., will close for redevelopment Aug. 13.
Vail Resorts sold the hotel last July but retained the management contract. The new owner, GENLB-Rancho LLC, said it planned to close the hotel to complete an extensive redevelopment of the property.
RockResorts will receive a fee covering the remaining term of the contract.
LEADVILLE
Ski Cooper sets season-pass prices
Ski Cooper announced season-pass prices Tuesday for the 2006-07 ski season.
Adult season passes are $169 if purchased before Sept. 30; prices go up to $239 for passes purchased Oct. 1 through the end of the season.
Passes are available at www.skicooper.com.
REDMOND, Wash.
Microsoft updates patch security holes
Microsoft released eight critical updates Tuesday to patch security holes in its Windows operating system, Internet Explorer browser, Windows Media Player and Office productivity software.
The critical patches are designed to prevent an attacker from taking control of another person’s computer without that user’s permission.
