Southwest Missouri News

Joplin

DNR approves soil clean-up plan

The Missouri Department of Natural Resources has approved a plan to clean up petroleum contaminated soil at the former Midwestern Oil site at 2828 W. Seventh St.

The plan calls for the cleanup of 1,700 cubic yards of petroleum-contaminated soil, which will be transported to a designated site on Denton Lane, where the soil will be applied 18 to 24 inches thick to a specific area designated as a treatment cell.

Naturally occurring microbes in the soil will consume the petroleum contaminants. Turning the soil regularly provides the necessary oxygen to the microbes and speeds up the contaminant consumption.

Modine reports drop in earnings

Modine Manufacturing Co. reported a small increase in sales but a drop in earnings for its third quarter, which ended Dec. 26.

Net sales for the third quarter came to $270.4 million, up from $265.4 million during the same period a year earlier.

Net sales for the first three quarters of the company's fiscal year actually fell, from $849.9 million in 2000 to $820.2 million in 2001.

Net earnings came to $1.3 million for the third quarter, compared with slightly more than $7 million a year earlier.

Earnings were hit by restructuring charges of $8.5 million and other costs of $3.8 million related to plant closures in the past three months.

Earnings for the past nine months came to $18.3 million, compared with $46.6 million for the same period a year earlier.

Earnings came to 4 cents per share for the third quarter, compared with 22 cents a year ago. Earnings came to 55 cents per share for the past three quarters, compared with $1.42 for the same period one year earlier.

Modine officials said that earnings for the year should come to around 75 cents to 85 cents per share when the company's fiscal year ends March 31.

In a prepared release, the company said that while it has been having success with its North American and European auto business, it continues to "experience weakness in the aftermarket, heavy-duty, truck, electronics and heating markets."

Last fall, Modine announced plans to close six plants as part of its restructuring, but the Joplin plant and its 170 employees were not on the list. The company's Joplin plant manufactures air and oil coolers for a variety of engines.

In addition, the company's board of directors declared a quarterly dividend of 12.5 cents per share, payable March 7 to shareholders of record Feb. 22.

The board cut the dividend in half last fall.

Monett

JHA hits revenue record in Q2

As it projected earlier, Jack Henry & Associates Inc. reported record revenue for the second quarter but only a slight increase in net income.

The company had warned in Decem-ber that earnings would be "moderately" lower than Wall Street expectations at the time because of what management de-scribed as an "ongoing economic slowdown."

Revenue for the company's second quarter, which ended Dec. 31, came to $91.5 million, a jump of 13 percent compared with $80.7 million during the same period one year earlier.

In the first half of Jack Henry's fiscal year, revenue came to $177.7 million, compared with $157.7 million for the same period the previous year. That was a jump of 13 percent.

Net income came to slightly more than $13 million for the second quarter, a 1 percent increase compared with income of $12.9 million during the second quarter last year.

Net income for the past six months came to $27.6 million, compared with $24.8 million for the same period a year earlier. That is a jump of 11 percent.

Jack Henry reported net income of 14 cents per share as of Jan. 16, which also is what the company reported for the second quarter last year and is what the company projected earning in December.

Earnings per share came to 30 cents for the past six months, compared with 27 cents a year ago.

"Second-quarter results reflect the weakness in the capital goods economy yet exceeded last year's record results that were fueled by the rebound in de-mand following the Y2K moratorium," Michael Henry, chief executive officer, said in a prepared statement.

Neosho

La-Z-Boy exceeds expectations

La-Z-Boy Inc. announced Jan. 17 that its third-quarter earnings would exceed expectations, as renewed interest in home remodeling led to a surge in sales in stores open at least one year.

The company expects quarterly earnings "slightly exceeding'' the upper end of its earlier announced range of 26 cents to 30 cents per diluted share, compared with 27 cents it earned in the year-earlier quarter.

The company expects a low single-digit percentage sales decrease in the fiscal third quarter. It also reported gains in same-store unit sales of 12.5 percent and 15.7 percent in November and Decem-ber, respectively, which were well above its expectations.

In a prepared statement, Jerry Kiser, chief executive officer, said the company credited higher sales to more families curtailing travel plans and spending money remodeling their homes.

La-Z-Boy owns a plant in Neosho that has approximately 1,000 employees, making it one of the area's largest em-ployers.

Group plans affordable housing

A group that wants to convert Neo-sho's former high school into affordable housing for the elderly has received nearly $282,000 in federal tax credits and a $603,000 federal HOME loan for the project.

The School House LP, a joint partnership of the Neosho Housing Authority and Jeffrey Smith Co. of Columbia, re-ceived the funds to convert the former school building into 31 housing units for the elderly. The award translated into about $2.8 million in tax credits over a 10-year period.

Additionally, the group's HOME loan carries a 30-year, no interest note.

The former school will be divided into three single-bedroom units renting for $242 a month, and 28 two-bedroom apartments, renting for $317. The apartments would be available to people age 62 or older.

Built in 1916, the former site of Neosho High School has been vacant since 1995, when construction on the new Neosho Middle School was completed. In December 2001, the School House LP purchased the school building from Bob Steele, who bought the building in 1995 from the Neosho R-V School District.

The developments were selected from a list of 129 proposals from private and nonprofit housing developers.

The Missouri Housing Development Commission administers rental housing production programs, including the federal and state low income housing tax credits.

Tax credits are sold on the open market, much in the same manner as bonds. Tax credit buyers get an income tax deduction equal to the amount of the tax credits. Additionally, the buyer becomes an investor in the building project.