Business briefs for June 29, 2012
Wood pellet facility sought near BR port
Point Bio Energy LLC and Sun Plus Inc. have signed a letter of intent to lease 133 acres for 10 years on a site adjacent to the Port of Greater Baton Rouge for construction of a facility to manufacture wood pellets used in alternative energy production.
The site will be used for the initial Point Bio Energy pellet manufacturing facility, which is slated to start construction late this year, the company announced Thursday.
“This agreement not only places PBE in a very strong position for the first plant, but the site is expandable and could easily accept the second plant as well,” William New, PBE’s chairman and chief executive officer, said in a news release.
The company plans to build a facility that would compress sawdust into wood pellets that would be used as fuel to generate electricity in Europe.
Point Bio will use the nearby port for storage and shipping, New said.
GM’s European unit approves turnaround
FRANKFURT, Germany — GM’s struggling European unit Opel said its board of directors has signed off on a turnaround plan that envisages cost cuts, new models and efforts to win new export sales.
An Adam Opel GmbH statement says the plan aims at a “sustainable turnaround” for GM’s money-losing European business.
The statement Thursday provided few details, but the company has said it is working on a plan that envisions guaranteed jobs for German workers until 2016 in return for postponing pay increases, and the expectation that the plant in Bochum will close after that.
The company has also said it plans to launch new models, move into market segments where it has not been represented and expand sales in emerging markets. It also expects synergies with new French partner PSA Peugeot Citroen.
Amedisys stock falls after health decision
Amedisys Inc.’s stock took a hit Thursday after the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the health-care reforms expected to cut payments for home nursing, and a stock analyst and frequent critic recommended investors sell their shares.
Amedisys shares closed at $11.89, down $1.19, or 9.1 percent. The price dip followed the court ruling and CRT Capital Group LLC managing director and co-head of research Sheryl Skolnick’s rating change.
In moving to a sell recommendation, Skolnick said the ruling means home health firms can’t expect relief from “the nearly crushing pressure” of requirements that make it much harder to generate more patient visits and revenue.
Compiled from
staff and wire reports