News Briefs - May 25
The Latest Headlines:
- Price of Crude Oil Falls From Record High
- Existing Home Sales Rise 2.5% in April
- Supreme Court to Hear Interstate Wine Shipping Case
- Celadon Completes Public Stock Offering
- Swift Updates 2Q Guidance; Increases Stock Repurchase Plan
- Ryder System Upgrades Credit Line
- Covenant's Board Approves Repurchase of 1 Million Shares
- Existing Home Sales Rise 2.5% in April
Price of Crude Oil Falls From Record High
The price of crude oil for July delivery fell 58 cents, or 1.4%, to settle at $41.14 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, Bloomberg reported.Oil rose 4.5% to $41.77 a barrel on Monday, the highest closing price since futures began trading in 1983. Futures were up 41% from a year earlier.
Analysts attributed Tuesday's decline to expectations that a U.S. government report on Wednesday will show that fuel inventories rose last week, Bloomberg reported. Transport Topics
Existing Home Sales Rise 2.5% in April
The National Association of Realtors said Tuesday that sales of previously owned U.S. homes rose 2.5% in April to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 6.64 million units, second strongest month ever.The report said that more buyers entered the market as the Federal Reserve hinted it would soon begin to raise interest rates from its lowest level in more than four decades.
Analysts had been expecting a 6.45 million annual sales pace, Reuters said.
Inventories in April increased to 2.57 million units from 2.35 million the previous month, the report said. It was the highest since August 1990 and the second highest inventory level on record. Transport Topics
Supreme Court to Hear Interstate Wine Shipping Case
The Supreme Court said Monday it would hear three appeals involving state laws preventing consumers from buying wine directly from out-of-state suppliers, the Associated Press reported.The dispute pits states and a network of alcohol wholesalers against wineries that want to sell their products over the Internet and by phone. Package-delivery companies are often used to ship the wines ordered by phone or Internet.
At least 20 states prohibit direct interstate shipment of wine to consumers, while others allow it with some restrictions, AP said.
States say the system helps prevent fraud and underage drinking, AP said. They also collect millions of dollars from alcohol taxes.
Alcohol is one of the most heavily regulated products in the country, but the rules for who can sell what to whom were generally set before the nationwide growth of small wineries and wine tourism — and long before the Internet emerged, AP said. Transport Topics
Celadon Completes Public Stock Offering
Truckload carrier Celadon Group Inc. said Monday it had completed its public offering of 1.69 million shares of its common stock at $14.50.Celadon said in a release the offering generated net proceeds of about $21.6 million. It also has granted the underwriters a 30-day option to purchase up to 253,500 shares to cover over-allotments.
Celadon is ranked No. 49 on the Transport Topics 100 list of the largest U.S. and Canadian trucking companies. Transport Topics
Swift Updates 2Q Guidance; Increases Stock Repurchase Plan
Truckload carrier Swift Transportation Co. said Monday that based upon an improvement in business during April compared with a year earlier, it now expects earnings for the second quarter to be in the range of 24 cents to 30 cents per share.On average, analysts estimated the company would earn 22 cents a share, Reuters reported.
Swift also said it had repurchased 5.544 million shares of its common stock at a cost of $99.1 million during 2004 as part of a $100 million stock repurchase program announced Feb. 11. Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Jerry Moyes purchased 353,000 shares of stock during this same period, the company said.
The company said its board of directors authorized it to repurchase up to $40 million additional of its common stock on May 20 beyond the $100 million previously approved.
Swift is ranked No. 13 on the Transport Topics 100 list of the largest U.S. and Canadian trucking companies. Transport Topics
Ryder System Upgrades Credit Line
Ryder System of Miami said May 18 that it closed a five-year, $870 million revolving credit facility to support its borrowing programs and international operations.The new line replaced an $860 million line of credit, $300 million of which was subject to annual renewal.
The company ranks No. 3 on the Transport Topics 100 list of the largest U.S. and Canadian trucking companies and specializes in full-service truck leasing, dedicated contract carriage and third-party logistics.
The agreement was underwritten by 13 international banks, including institutions based in the United States, Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Japan and the United Kingdom. Transport Topics
This story appeared in the May 24 print edition of Transport Topics.
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Covenant's Board Approves Repurchase of 1 Million Shares
Truckload carrier Covenant Transport Inc. said Friday its board of directors authorized the company to repurchase up to 1 million shares of its Class A common stock.The company said in a statement the stock could be repurchased on the open market or in privately negotiated transactions until May 31, 2005.
Covenant is ranked No. 31 on the Transport Topics 100 list of the largest U.S. and Canadian trucking companies. Transport Topics
