BOULDER
Boulder-based Ball Aerospace and Technologies Corp. announced its systems engineering solutions group in Albuquerque won a fourth contract worth up to $47.4 million to support the National Assessment Group’s evaluations for Department of Defense programs.
The contract, which started Jan. 29, has a one year-base period with four one-year options. The total five-year value is estimated to be $47.4 million.
MORE BRIEFS
DENVER
1-day filing extension
given in Nacchio case
U.S. District Judge Edward Nottingham on Thursday granted the government’s motion for a one-day extension to file certain information in the illegal-insider-trading case of former Qwest chief executive Joe Nacchio.
The government said it needed more time because inclement weather closed the Justice Department’s offices in Washington for nearly two days this week.
DENVER
Bill on nurse staffing to be reintroduced
A spiked state Senate bill that would have required hospitals to publicly disclose nurse staffing levels will be re-created and reintroduced later this year, backers said Thursday.
Senate Bill 10 was killed this week by a unanimous vote in the Senate Health and Human Services Committee.
The union-backed bill will be changed to make it “more moderate,” said Scott Wasserman, policy director for the Service Employees International Union.
DENVER
DIA was fifth-busiest U.S. airport in 2006
Denver International Airport was the fifth-busiest airport in the nation in 2006 through November, according to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics.
That’s on par with DIA’s ranking for the first 11 months of 2005.
The busiest airport was Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, according to the ranking, based on the number of passengers boarding planes.
DENVER
Natural-gas cost seen
rising 3% in March
Xcel Energy said natural-gas prices will rise 3 percent in March, but typical residential heating bills will fall 6 percent because of warmer average temperatures and less heating use.
The average residential bill is projected to be $87.13 in March, compared with $92.98 in February. That does not include additional charges for electricity.
State law allows Xcel to pass increases or decreases in natural-gas prices directly to consumers without additional profits or losses to the company.
DENVER
Convention center hosts Microsoft event
Technology giant Microsoft Corp. held its Microsoft Across America event Thursday at the Colorado Convention Center.
The event is part of a series of nationwide conferences aimed at educating business owners and corporate partners on how best to use Microsoft technology.
Similar events are planned in Fort Collins on March 6 and Colorado Springs on March 8.
DENVER
Cimarex sees lower 4th-quarter earnings
Cimarex Energy Co. said fourth-quarter earnings were lower because of a decline in oil and gas prices.
The Denver-based company reported fourth-quarter net income of $58.7 million, or 70 cents per diluted share, compared with earnings of $168.4 million, or $1.98 per diluted share in the same period of 2005.
Revenue declined to $295.6 million in the period ended Dec. 31, compared with $429.5 million last year.
MINNEAPOLIS
Northwest lays out bankruptcy plan
Northwest Airlines on Thursday laid out its plan to emerge from bankruptcy with a value of some $7 billion and profits through 2010, although fuel prices and shareholders will have the final say.
The financial plan for the nation’s fifth-largest airline said its secured creditors would be paid in full and unsecured creditors would get about 74 cents on the dollar.
IRVING, Texas
Exxon Mobil reserves continue rising trend
Exxon Mobil Corp. announced Thursday that it added 1.95 billion barrels of oil equivalent to its proven reserves last year, about 350 million barrels more than it produced, continuing a positive trend.
The world’s largest publicly traded oil company said it produced 1.6 billion oil-equivalent barrels in 2006 – 976 million barrels of liquids and 3.7 trillion cubic feet of gas. The Irving- based company produces about 3 percent of the world’s oil.
BRUSSELS, Belgium
Report: Big breweries ponder merger
Shares in InBev SA and Anheuser-Busch rose after a Brazilian newspaper report on talks to unite the world’s two largest beermakers.
The Belgium-based brewing giant declined to comment on the report in São Paulo business daily Valor Economico that InBev had held preliminary merger talks with its U.S.-based rival.
