Peter Groff, president pro tem of the Colorado Senate, on Wednesday outlined plans for an education program aimed at helping people, especially minorities, prevent foreclosure and gain better access to financial products.
Groff, along with Rickie Keys, a senior fellow at the University of Denver’s Center for African- American Policy, intends to create a program and website that connect banks and other financial entities with minority borrowers.
Additional business news briefs:
TULSA, Okla.
Williams Cos. gets OK for Colorado pipeline
Williams Cos.’s Northwest Pipeline got approval from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to place a Colorado line into service.
The 38-mile Parachute Lateral Pipeline and related facilities provide 450,000 dekatherms of gas per day from Garfield County to Rio Blanco County, the Tulsa company said. A dekatherm is 1 million British thermal units.
DENVER
Apex Silver shares up over tax speculation
Shares of Apex Silver Mines Ltd. rose 8.5 percent Wednesday on speculation that a proposed tax on a Bolivian project will be more favorable to the company.
Apex, based in Denver, rose $1.52, to $19.44 on the American Stock Exchange.
The stock surged 20 percent to a one-year high on May 4, the session before the company confirmed Bolivia will honor mining-concession rights under a new law.
DENVER
Venoco has net loss, but revenues rise 49%
Venoco Inc. on Wednesday reported a first-quarter net loss of $10.4 million, compared with a profit of $5.1 million in the same period of 2006. Revenues increased 49 percent to $55.7 million from $37.4 million last year. The loss includes $17 million in derivative losses from its commodity hedging program.
During the quarter, the company produced the equivalent of 1.59 million barrels of oil, up 58 percent from the first quarter of 2006. The company went public in November.
PALO ALTO, Calif.
HP’s profits slip 7% despite jump in sales
Hewlett-Packard Co.’s second-quarter profit fell 7 percent despite a drastic rise in personal-computer and server sales, narrowly beating Wall Street’s forecast.
For the three months ended April 30, HP earned $1.78 billion, or 65 cents per share, compared with $1.9 billion, or 66 cents per share, in the same period last year. Sales leaped to $25.5 billion, a 13 percent jump from the $22.55 billion last year.
Excluding one-time charges, HP’s net income came in at $1.9 billion, or 70 cents per share.
DENVER
Nacchio files motion on SEC fraud charges
Former Qwest chief executive Joe Nacchio, who faces a Securities and Exchange Commission fraud lawsuit, has filed a motion asking a judge to give Nacchio until June 5 to answer the SEC’s charges and until June 29 to serve initial disclosures.
The motion, which states that it was filed with the consent of the SEC, also requests that Nacchio’s deposition be the last one taken in the case. The SEC alleges that Nacchio and several other former Qwest officials fraudulently boosted revenue by $3 billion from 1999 to 2002.
BROOMFIELD
RockResorts offers Colo. eco-vacation
RockResorts International LLC, a unit of Broomfield-based Vail Resorts Inc., announced Wednesday that it has partnered with the U.S. Forest Service, Eagle Ranger District, Friends of the Dillon Ranger District and White River National Forest to offer an eco-vacation package at its luxury resorts in Colorado.
Guests who book the Give & Getaway package will participate in trail restoration projects in the White River National Forest – where Vail, Beaver Creek, Breckenridge and Keystone are located – and receive discounted lodging rates and gifts.
ROCHESTER, N.Y.
Bausch & Lomb OKs buyout by Warburg
Bausch & Lomb Inc., struggling to recover from the global recall of a contact-lens cleaner blamed for severe eye infections, agreed to a $3.67 billion buyout by Warburg Pincus, though Wall Street seemed to see potential for a higher price.
The 154-year-old eye-care company’s stock rose nearly 10 percent after Wednesday’s announcement, exceeding the amount Warburg agreed to pay, a sign investors may expect a rival bid.
LAS VEGAS
Riviera Holdings gets better takeover offer
Riviera Holdings Corp., a casino company with 26 acres on the Las Vegas Strip, received an increased $424 million takeover bid from a group of investors that includes Starwood Capital Group founder Barry Sternlicht.
The offer of $34 a share by Riv Acquisition Holdings Inc., made in a letter Wednesday to the company, is 13 percent more than a $373.9 million proposal made May 11 by a group led by Ian Bruce Eichner and Dune Capital Management LP. Riviera has a casino in Black Hawk.
FLINT, Mich.
GM may sell maker of medium trucks
General Motors Corp., the largest U.S. automaker, may sell its medium-duty truck business as it focuses on making cars and light trucks.
The unit last year built about 40,800 Chevrolet Kodiak, GMC TopKick and Isuzu T-Series models, for uses such as dump trucks and delivery vehicles.
