Southwest Missouri News

|tab|

Branson|ret||ret||tab|

|ret||ret||tab|

Entertainers join MDA Telethon|ret||ret||tab|

Entertainers Andy Williams, Yakov Smirnoff, Jim Stafford, Mickey Gilley, The Oak Ridge Boys, The Lennon Sisters, The Lawrence Welk Orchestra and The Baldknobbers will perform in a benefit for the Muscular Dystrophy Association at 11 a.m. Aug. 1 at Andy Williams' Moon River Theatre.|ret||ret||tab|

The show will be taped for rebroadcast during the National Jerry Lewis MDA Telethon Sept. 2 and 3. Williams also will do a split-screen with Lewis in Los Angeles via satellite on Labor Day weekend. Tickets for the event are $10 and all proceeds will benefit the Greater Ozarks Area Chapter of the Muscular Dystrophy Association.|ret||ret||tab|

|ret||ret||tab|

Carthage |ret||ret||tab|

|ret||ret||tab|

Leggett & Platt reports earnings|ret||ret||tab|

Leggett & Platt Inc. has reported earnings of 25 cents per share for its second quarter. |ret||ret||tab|

While that figure is in line with expectations announced earlier t his year of 23 to 27 cents per share, it is down 34 percent compared with the figure for the second quarter of 2000, which was a record for Leggett & Platt.|ret||ret||tab|

Company officials said they are confident that improvements will be reported in the remainder of the year.|ret||ret||tab|

"Though results are well below last year's record second-quarter performance, we are pleased by the improvement in margin and earnings versus the first quarter," said Felix Wright, president and chief executive officer, in a prepared statement. "We are guardedly optimistic that our earnings bottomed in the first quarter, and that the second quarter will prove to be the bottom in sales."|ret||ret||tab|

Leggett & Platt reported sales of $1.04 billion for the quarter that ended June 30, down 5.5 percent compared with sales of $1.1 billion for the same period a year ago.|ret||ret||tab|

Sales for the first half of the company's fiscal year came to $2.09 billion, down 2.4 percent from sales of $2.14 billion a year earlier.|ret||ret||tab|

Earnings for the quarter came to $50.9 million, down 33 percent compared with earnings of $76.3 million for the comparable period last year.|ret||ret||tab|

Earnings for the last six months came to $96.9 million, down 35 percent compared with earnings of $150.1 million for the same period a year ago.|ret||ret||tab|

Earnings came in at 25 cents per share for the second quarter, compared with 38 cents per share last year. That is a drop of 34 percent. Earnings for the first half of the fiscal year came to 48 cents per share, down 36 percent when compared with earnings of 75 cents per share a year ago.|ret||ret||tab|

Wright said that the company's plan announced last year to improve results is working. |ret||ret||tab|

"We continue to hunker down," Wright said. "Since September we have consolidated or sold 10 facilities, restructured other operations, reduced full-time-equivalent headcount by almost 3,000, and reduced capital spending. |ret||ret||tab|

In the second quarter we held capital spending to $36 million, completed one small acquisition, reduced working capital, repurchased 4 million shares of stock at an average price of about $19.60, re-paid $74 million of long-term debt, and added $23 million to cash equivalents."|ret||ret||tab|

|ret||ret||tab|

Granby|ret||ret||tab|

|ret||ret||tab|

P.I.C. Plastics opens new plant|ret||ret||tab|

A ribbon cutting was recently held for P.I.C. Plastics Inc.'s new plant located near Granby.|ret||ret||tab|

P.I.C. Plastics was incorporated in 1981 and produces high quality PVC jacketing systems for pipe insulation.|ret||ret||tab|

In order to reduce costs, in April 2000 the company decided to relocate its base of operations from Denver, to southwest Missouri. After viewing several possible sites, P.I.C. in April this year moved its operation to a 15,000-square-foot building near Granby and is currently employing 15 people.|ret||ret||tab|

The company ships its PVC plastic jacketing to customers throughout the United States and Mexico.|ret||ret||tab|

|ret||ret||tab|

Joplin|ret||ret||tab|

|ret||ret||tab|

Average home price up in June|ret||ret||tab|

The average price of a home sold in the Joplin area in June was $83,462, according to the Joplin Board of Realtors.|ret||ret||tab|

That compares with an average price of $80,462 in the previous month. The average number of days a home spent on the market in June was 139 days.|ret||ret||tab|

|ret||ret||tab|

Neosho|ret||ret||tab|

|ret||ret||tab|

La-Z-Boy Inc. names new CEO|ret||ret||tab|

La-Z-Boy Inc. has named Gerald L. Kiser as its new chief executive officer, ending nearly four years of transition for the furniture maker since the death of Charles T. Knabusch, longtime chairman, president and CEO.|ret||ret||tab|

Kiser, who also will retain the title of president, was executive vice president and chief operating officer at La-Z-Boy when Knabusch died in 1977.|ret||ret||tab|

Monroe-based La-Z-Boy has more than 20,000 employees and operates 55 manufacturing facilities in 10 states and four foreign countries. It operates a plant in Neosho that employs more than 1,000 people, making it one of the largest employers in the Joplin area.[[In-content Ad]]