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By Staff Report / Tuesday, November 5th, 2013 / Banking & Finance, Earnings, Technology, Tri-County Public Companies / Comments Off on ValueClick profits jump 33%, firm to sell sites
Online advertising firm ValueClick’s third-quarter profits jumped 33 percent to $22.1 million and the firm announced plans to sell off company-owned websites such as Investopedia.com and CouponMountain.com.
“We delivered strong profitability and cash flow in the third quarter, driven by a continued mix shift into our higher-value-added offerings,” ValueClick CEO and President John Giuliani said in a news release. “Solid year-over-year growth in our CRM, affiliate marketing, mobile, video and cross-device solutions was offset by weakness in our insertion order display business within the media segment.”
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By Staff Report / Friday, November 1st, 2013 / Banking & Finance, East Ventura County, Latest news, Tri-County Public Companies / Comments Off on Murdock completes buyout of Dole Food Co.
Dole Food Co. CEO and Chairman David Murdock has completed a buyout of the company, a deal that takes the Westlake Village-based produce giant private and values it at $1.6 billion.
The merger was approved by shareholders on Oct. 31, the company said. Dole shares will cease trading on the New York Stock Exchange at the close of business on Nov. 1.
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By Staff Report / Friday, November 1st, 2013 / Banking & Finance, Banking Industry, Latest news, South Coast / Comments Off on Funari leaves Business First for Bank of Santa Barbara
Longtime Santa Barbara banker Joanne Funari has stepped down from Business First Bank to join the Bank of Santa Barbara as chief operating officer.
Funari previously served as regional director and president of Business First, a division of Heritage Oaks Bancorp based in downtown Santa Barbara.
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By Marlize van Romburgh / Friday, November 1st, 2013 / Banking & Finance, Banking Industry, Top Stories, Tri-County Economy / Comments Off on Treasury nets $3.2M loss on TARP in region
As the last bank in the region exits the Troubled Asset Relief Program on the five-year anniversary of the federal aid program, the U.S. Treasury has recouped most of its investment in the Tri-Counties, taking a loss of $3.2 million on the $259.6 million it disbursed to area lenders.
By paying off $2.1 million in federal aid it received at the height of the financial crisis, Ojai Community Bank becomes the last of the region’s banks to exit TARP. All told, the U.S. Treasury received $256.4 million on the $259.6 million in aid it disbursed to nine banks in the Tri-Counties.
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By Staff Report / Tuesday, October 29th, 2013 / Banking & Finance, Earnings, Latest news, Real Estate, Tri-County Public Companies / Comments Off on Ryland’s Q3 profits jump 415% on higher home sales
Westlake Village-based Ryland Group made a roaring comeback in the third quarter, with profits up 415 percent to $53.6 million. The parent company of national homebuilder Ryland Homes said revenue rose 60.7 percent to $576.4 million on higher sales as the housing market continued to rebound.
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By Marlize van Romburgh / Friday, October 25th, 2013 / Banking & Finance, Banking Industry, Central Coast, East Ventura County, South Coast, Top Stories, Tri-County Economy, West Ventura County / Comments Off on Heritage buy sets stage to compete in big leagues
With its $56.4 million purchase of another Central Coast bank, Heritage Oaks Bancorp lays the foundation to build the region’s next big community banking franchise and emerges as the dominant player in the market.
Paso Robles-based Heritage Oaks said Oct. 21 that it is buying Mission Community Bank, based in San Luis Obispo, in a cash-and-stock deal expected to close in the first quarter of 2014. The combined bank would have $1.5 billion in assets, making it the largest bank based in the Tri-Counties.
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By Patrick Kulp / Friday, October 25th, 2013 / Banking & Finance, Central Coast, East Ventura County, South Coast, Top Stories, Tri-County Economy, West Ventura County / Comments Off on Ratings agencies unfazed as county pension costs rise
Despite dire warnings that future pension costs could cause a fiscal meltdown for tri-county governments, credit ratings for Santa Barbara, Ventura and San Luis Obispo county bonds remain mostly unaffected by looming gaps in their retirement obligation funding.
Standard & Poor’s, a leading rating agency, ranks all three counties near the top of a scale that spans from its highest AAA to C, the lowest rating a bond can have without defaulting. Santa Barbara County carries the agency’s second highest AA-plus designation. Ventura County is assigned a slightly lower AA-rating this year and SLO County is ranked AA-minus.
