5 Best Beverage Stocks To Invest In Right Now: United Bankshares Inc.(UBSI)
United Bankshares, Inc., through its subsidiaries, provides commercial and retail banking services and products in the United States. Its deposit products include checking, savings, time, and money market deposit accounts; demand deposits, statement and special savings, and NOW accounts; and variable and fixed-term money market accounts and certificates of deposit. The company?s loan products portfolio comprises personal, commercial, floor plan, and student loans; construction and real estate loans; and consumer loans, including credit card and home equity loans. It also offers individual retirement accounts, safe deposit boxes, wire transfers, credit card, and other banking products and services. In addition, the company offers trust services; and services to correspondent banks, such as check clearing, safekeeping, and the buying and selling of federal funds. The company?s nonbank subsidiaries engage in other community banking services, such as asset management, real p roperty title insurance, investment banking, financial planning, and brokerage services. United Bankshares operates 112 full service offices in West Virginia, Virginia, Northern Virginia, Maryland, southeastern Ohio, and Washington, D.C. The company was founded in 1982 and is headquartered in Charleston, West Virginia.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Rich Duprey]
United Bancshares� (NASDAQ: UBSI ) �announced yesterday its second-quarter dividend of $0.31 per share, the same rate it's paid for the last six quarters.
- [By Marc Bastow]
Charleston, West Virginia-based bank holding company United Bancshares (UBSI) raised its quarterly dividend 3.2% to 32 cents per share, payable April 1 to shareholders of record as of March 14. The increase represents the 40th consecutive annual dividend increase by UBSI.
UBSI Dividend Yield: 4.30% - [By Fredrik Arnold]
Ten Champion dogs that promised the biggest dividend yields into July included firms representing five of nine market sectors. The top stocks were three of five from the financial sector: Universal Health Realty Trust (UHT); Mercury General Corp. (MCY); Old Republic Int'l (ORI). The other two financial firms, HCP Inc., and United Bankshares Inc. (UBSI), placed sixth and eighth.
Top 10 Safest Companies To Watch In Right Now: Danone SA (BN)
Danone SA is a France-based food company that primarily produces fresh milk products, baby foods, biscuits, cereal products and medical nutrition products. It also co-produces bottled water. The Company's portfolio of brands and products include Danone, a brand of fresh dairy products; Evian, a brand of bottled still water; Volvic, its international brand of bottled still water, and Aqua, a brand of packaged water in Indonesia. It has presence in the infant food market in France through its subsidiary, Bledina. It has also developed two probiotic dairy product lines known under the names Actimel, and Activia, as well as a line of low-fat products under the names Taillefine, Vitalinea and Ser. The Company operates through numerous subsidiaries in Europe, Asia and Americas. In February 2013 it acquired majority stake in Centrale Laitiere SA. In May 2013, it acquired an equity interest of over 90% in Happy Family, a baby food producer. In August 2013, it acquired YoCrunch. Advisors' Opinion:- [By Namitha Jagadeesh]
Danone SA (BN) declined 1.6 percent to 56.34 euros after saying baby-nutrition sales will fall in Asia in the third quarter. The company said it had to recall infant-formula products after milk-powder supplier Fonterra Cooperative Group Ltd. warned of a contaminated ingredient.
Top 10 Safest Companies To Watch In Right Now: Appliance Recycling Centers of America Inc.(ARCI)
Appliance Recycling Centers of America, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, sells new household appliances through a chain of its factory outlet stores under the name ApplianceSmart. Its stores offer new special-buy appliances, including prior-year models, close-outs, factory overruns, and scratch-and-dent units, as well as byproduct materials, such as metals of recycled appliances. As of April 2, 2011, the company operated 19 factory outlet stores in Georgia, Minnesota, Ohio, and Texas. The company also provides turnkey appliance recycling and replacement services for electric utilities and other sponsors of energy efficiency programs. It operated 10 processing and recycling centers in California, Colorado, Illinois, Minnesota, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Washington; and Ontario, Canada. In addition, the company has a joint venture agreement with ARCA Advanced Processing, LLC, which recycles appliances in the northeastern United States for General Ele ctric Company. The company was founded in 1976 and is based in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Lisa Levin]
Appliances: This industry fell 1.07% by 10:35 am ET. Appliance Recycling Centers of America (NASDAQ: ARCI) shares dropped 1.3% in today's trading. Appliance Recycling Centers of America's trailing-twelve-month profit margin is 3.11%.
Top 10 Safest Companies To Watch In Right Now: Korea Electric Power Corp (KEP)
Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO), incorporated on January 1, 1982, is engaged in the generation, transmission and distribution of electricity and development of electric power resources in the Republic of Korea. KEPCO�� business operations include nuclear, hydro and thermal generation; transmission and distribution, and resources development. KEPCO consists of power generation companies, subsidiaries and affiliates, and other share-holding companies. On January 5, 2010, KEPCO developed the prototype of next-generation electric vehicle chargers.
KEPCO completed consulting projects in Myanmar, the Philippines, Indonesia, Libya, Ukraine and Paraguay, and is working on 12 projects in Western Africa, Cambodia, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Azerbaijan. KEPCO is investing in green growth business, which includes implementation of Smart Grid and electric vehicle charging infrastructure and reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. KEPCO is engaged in development of renewable energy projects, including photovoltaic, wind and tidal energy to realize low carbon green growth. KEPCO��s overseas renewable energy projects include wind farms in Gansu (99 megawatts) and Inner Mongolia (1,075 megawatts) in China. KEPCO has secured an annual 520,000 tons worth of carbon emission rights. KEPCO has nine CDM projects related to wind generation project in China, out of 18 CDM projects.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Jake L'Ecuyer]
Leading and Lagging Sectors
Utilities stocks gained Friday, with Korea Electric Power (NYSE: KEP) leading advancers. Meanwhile, gainers in the sector included Huaneng Power International (NYSE: HNP), with shares up 2.1 percent, and Pampa Energia SA (NYSE: PAM), with shares up 2.5 percent. - [By Garrett Cook]
Utilities shares rose around 0.45 percent in trading on Tuesday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Empresa Distribuidora y Comercializadora Norte S.A. (NYSE: EDN), up 4.7 percent, and Korea Electric Power (NYSE: KEP), up 3.9 percent.
Top 10 Safest Companies To Watch In Right Now: Jarden Corp (JAH)
Jarden Corporation (Jarden), incorporated on December 11, 2001, is a global consumer products company. The Company operates in three segments through a range of brands, including: Outdoor Solutions: Abu Garcia, Aero, Berkley, Campingaz, Coleman, ExOfficio, Fenwick, Gulp!, K2, Marker, Marmot, Mitchell, Penn, Rawlings, Shakespeare, Stearns, Stren, Trilene, Volkl and Zoot; Consumer Solutions: Bionaire, Crock-Pot, FoodSaver, Health o meter, Holmes, Mr. Coffee, Oster, Patton, Rival, Seal-a-Meal, Sunbeam, VillaWare and White Mountain, and Branded Consumables: Ball, Bee, Bernardin, Bicycle, Billy Boy, Crawford, Diamond, Dicon, Fiona, First Alert, First Essentials, Hoyle, Kerr, Lehigh, Lillo, Loew-Cornell, Mapa, NUK, Pine Mountain, Quickie, Spontex and Tigex. On December 31, 2012, American Capital Ltd sold its portfolio company Lifoam Holdings, Inc. to the Company. In October 2013, Jarden Corporation completed its acquisition of Yankee Candle Investments LLC from a fund managed by Madison Dearborn Partners, LLC.
Outdoor Solutions
The Outdoor Solutions segment manufactures or sources, markets and distributes global consumer lifestyle products for outdoor and outdoor-related activities. For general outdoor activities, Coleman is a brand for lifestyle products, offering an array of products that include camping and outdoor equipment such as air beds, camping stoves, coolers, foldable furniture, gas grills, lanterns and flashlights, sleeping bags, tents and water recreation products, such as inflatable boats, kayaks and tow-behinds. The Outdoor Solutions segment is also a provider of fishing equipment under brand names, such as Abu Garcia, All Star, Berkley, Fenwick, Gulp!, JRC, Mitchell, Penn, Pflueger, Sebile, Sevenstrand, Shakespeare, Spiderwire, Stren, Trilene, Ugly Stik and Xtools. Team sports equipment for baseball, basketball, field hockey, football, lacrosse and softball products are sold under brand names, such as deBeer, Gait, Miken, Rawlings and Worth. Alpine and nordic skiing! , snowboarding, snowshoeing and in-line skating products are sold under brand names, such as Atlas, Full Tilt, K2, Line, Little Bear, Madshus, Marker, Morrow, Ride, Tubbs, Volkl and 5150 Snowboards.
Water sports equipment, personal flotation devices and all-terrain vehicle gear are sold under brand names, such as Helium, Hodgman, Mad Dog Gear, Sevylor, Sospenders and Stearns. The Company also sells technical and outdoor apparel and equipment under brand names, such as CAPP3L, Ex Officio, K2, Marker, Marmot, Planet Earth, Ride, Volkl and Zoot, and air beds under brand names, including Aero, Aerobed and Aero Sport. The Company has warehouse and distribution facilities in Canada, Europe, Latin America, the Pacific Rim and the United States. It also uses third party warehouses and logistical services. It manufactures its products at facilities in China, Europe, Latin America and North America, as well as through third-party sourcing, primarily in Asia.
Consumer Solutions
The Consumer Solutions segment manufactures or sources, markets, and distributes a line of household products, including kitchen appliances and home environment products. This segment maintains a portfolio of brands, including Bionaire, Crock-Pot, FoodSaver, Health o meter, Holmes, Mr. Coffee, Oster, Patton, Rival, Seal-a-Meal, Sunbeam and Villaware. The principal products in this segment include clippers and trimmers for professional use in the beauty and barber and animal categories; electric blankets, mattress pads and throws; household kitchen appliances, such as blenders, coffeemakers, irons, mixers, slow cookers, toasters, toaster ovens and vacuum packaging machines; home environmental products, such as air purifiers, fans, heaters and humidifiers; products for the hospitality industry, and scales for consumer use.
Branded Consumables
The Branded Consumables segment manufactures or sources, markets and distributes a line of branded consumer products, including arts and c! rafts pai! nt brushes, brooms, brushes, buckets, children�� card games, clothespins, collectible tins, condoms, cord, rope and twine, dusters, dust pans, feeding bottles, fencing, fire extinguishing products, firelogs and firestarters, home canning jars and accessories, kitchen matches, mops, other craft items, pacifiers, plastic cutlery, playing cards and accessories, rubber gloves and related cleaning products, safes, security cameras, security doors, smoke and carbon monoxide alarms, soothers, sponges, storage organizers and workshop accessories, teats, toothpicks, window guards and other accessories. This segment markets its products under the Aviator, Ball, Bee, Bernardin, Bicycle, Billy Boy, BRK, Crawford, Diamond, Dicon, Fiona, First Alert, First Essentials, Hoyle, Java-Log, KEM, Kerr, Lehigh, Lillo, Loew-Cornell, Mapa, NUK, Pine Mountain, Quickie Green Cleaning, Quickie Home-Pro, Quickie Microban, Quickie Original, Quickie Professional, Spontex, Tigex and Wellington brand names, among others.
The Company manufactures products, such as firelogs and firestarters, kitchen matches and metal closures for its home canning jars in its domestic facilities. It also manufactures playing cards and certain baby care products, home care products, healthcare products and home safety products at facilities worldwide, including facilities in Asia, Europe, Latin America, North America and South America.
Process Solutions
In addition to the three primary business segments, the Company�� Process Solutions segment manufactures, markets and distributes a variety of plastic products, including closures, contact lens packaging, medical disposables, plastic cutlery and rigid packaging. Its materials business produces specialty nylon polymers, conductive fibers and monofilament used in various products, including woven mats used by paper producers and weed trimmer cutting line, as well as fiberglass radio antennas for marine, citizen band and military applications. It is also a producer o! f niche p! roducts fabricated from solid zinc strip and is the supplier of copper-plated zinc penny blanks to the United States Mint and a supplier to the Royal Canadian Mint, as well as a supplier of brass, bronze and nickel-plated finishes on steel and zinc for coinage to other international markets. In addition, it manufactures a line of industrial zinc products marketed worldwide for use in the architectural, automotive, construction, electrical component and plumbing markets.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Zacks Investment Research]
But what if that company has put together a hot streak of earnings beats? What if a company has beaten not just two or three quarters in a row, but 20 quarters in a row - or 5 years - without a miss? Apple (AAPL) had put together just such an impressive earnings surprise streak until it finally missed in late 2011. In the 6 quarters since the miss, it has missed another 3 times. Share price, however, peaked in between the second and third miss.
But during its earnings surprise streak, investors were handsomely rewarded. Perfection Isn't Easy Even with all of the unknowns in investing, I'd rather buy a company that is on an earnings hot streak, than one that is dead cold. Companies with a perfect earnings track record for the last 5 years are a small select group. It's incredibly difficult to keep beating for 5 years through all the ups and downs in the economy. Management has to manage expectations very, very well. There's little room for error. That takes skill (and maybe some luck.) These three companies haven't missed in 5 years. I featured two of these companies last quarter and they came through with another earnings beat. Of course, an earnings beat doesn't necessarily mean a stock will rise afterwards. Being light on guidance or an earnings/sales warning, for instance, could put the damper on an earnings beat. But I still like my chances with an earnings beat versus an earnings miss. Will their streaks continue this earnings season? 3 Companies With Perfect Earnings Surprise Track Records1. Wyndham Worldwide (WYN)Wyndham is one of the largest hospitality companies in the world. It operates about 630,000 hotel rooms worldwide and operates vacation rentals and exchanges with over 106,000 vacation properties in 100 countries. It also operates a network of 190 timeshare properties with about 915,000 owners.Forward P/E = 15.4Expected 2013 earnings growth = 15%Zacks Rank #3 (Hold)Reporting second quarter results on July 24 2. Jarden Corporation (JAH)Jarde - [By Will Ashworth]
One of the only ways to fight this is by getting bigger. A good example in another industry is Jarden (JAH), a consumer goods business with annual revenues of $7.4 billion. It�� as big as it is in order to be able to provide a larger assortment of products to Walmart (WMT), its biggest customer, representing 20% of overall sales. Without this wide assortment, Bentonville would have to go elsewhere for sales. The same scenario applies to cable and television content.
- [By John Udovich]
Everyone is familiar with�the Tupperware brand from�consumer products stock Tupperware Brands Corporation (NYSE: TUP) and you are probably familiar with the brands�of mid cap stock Jarden Corp (NYSE: JAH) along with small cap stocks Libbey Inc (NYSEMKT: LBY) and Lifetime Brands Inc (NASDAQ: LCUT); but what about the stocks themselves? Chances are, their brands or products are right under your nose at home and you probably don�� know anything about the mid cap or small cap stock behind them.
- [By WWW.GURUFOCUS.COM]
Consumer products manufacturer Jarden Corp. (JAH) announced strong, broad-based organic growth and closed on the acquisition of Yankee Candle.From Diamond Hill Capital (Trades, Portfolio)'s Select Fund Commentary for fourth quarter 2013.
Also check out: Diamond Hill Capital Undervalued Stocks Diamond Hill Capital Top Growth Companies Diamond Hill Capital High Yield stocks, and Stocks that Diamond Hill Capital keeps buying
Currently 5.00/512345Rating: 5.0/5 (1 vote)
Top 10 Safest Companies To Watch In Right Now: Prosperity Bancshares Inc (PB)
Prosperity Bancshares, Inc., incorporated on December 22, 1983, is a financial holding company. The Company operates through its bank subsidiary, Prosperity Bank (the Bank). The Bank provides a broad line of financial products and services to small and medium-sized businesses and consumers. As of December 31, 2012, the Bank operated 213 full service banking locations; 59 in the Houston area; 20 in the South Texas area including Corpus Christi and Victoria; 35 in the Dallas/Fort Worth area; 21 in the East Texas area; thirty-four 34 in the Central Texas area including Austin and San Antonio; 34 in the West Texas area including Lubbock, Midland-Odessa and Abilene; and 10 in the Bryan/College Station area. The Company added a net of two banking centers in Tyler, TX in connection with its acquisition of East Texas Financial Services (East Texas) on January 1, 2013, after consolidations. In November 2013, the Company announced that the completion of the merger of FVNB Corp.
On January 1, 2012, the Company acquired Texas Bankers, Inc. and its wholly owned subsidiary, Bank of Texas, Austin, Texas. On April 1, 2012, it acquired The Bank Arlington. Effective July 1, 2012, the Company announced the completion of the merger with American State Financial Corporation and its wholly owned subsidiary American State Bank (collectively referred to as ASB) whereby American State Bank was merged with and into Prosperity Bank. In October 2012, the Company announced the completion of the merger with Community National Bank, Bellaire, Texas. On January 1, 2013, the Company announced the completion of the merger with East Texas Financial Services, Inc. (ETFS) and wholly owned subsidiary First Federal Bank Texas. Effective April 1, 2013, Prosperity Bancshares Inc announced the completion of the merger with Coppermark Bancshares, Inc. and wholly owned subsidiary Coppermark Bank, whereby Coppermark merged with and into Prosperity and Coppermark Bank merged with and into Prosperity Bank.
The Company pr! ovides medical and hospitalization insurance to its full-time associates. The Company considers its relations with associates to be good. Neither the Company nor the Bank is a party to any collective bargaining agreement. In 2012, the Company added additional products and services including trust services, credit card, mortgage lending and independent sales organization (ISO) sponsorship operations.
Lending Activities
The Company, through the Bank, offers a variety of traditional loan and deposit products to its customers, which consist primarily of consumers and small and medium-sized businesses. At December 31, 2012, total loans were $5.18 billion. Loans at December 31, 2012, included $10.4 million of loans held for sale and consisted of residential mortgage loans that were acquired as part of the acquisition of ASB in 2012. As reflected in the table below, loan growth was also impacted by the acquisition of Texas Bankers, Inc., The Bank Arlington, ASB and Community National Bank. Excluding loans acquired in these acquisitions and new production at the acquired banking centers since their respective acquisition dates, loans held for investment grew approximately $234.9 million, or 6.2%. The Company offers a variety of commercial lending products including term loans and lines of credit. The Company offers a broad range of short to medium-term commercial loans, primarily collateralized, to businesses for working capital (including inventory and receivables), business expansion (including acquisitions of real estate and improvements) and the purchase of equipment and machinery.
The Company makes commercial real estate loans collateralized by owner-occupied and non-owner-occupied real estate to finance the purchase of real estate. The Company�� commercial real estate loans are collateralized by liens on real estate, typically have variable interest rates (or five year or less fixed rates) and amortize over a 15 to 20 year period. Company�� lending activities al! so includ! es the origination of 1-4 family residential mortgage loans collateralized by owner-occupied residential properties located in the Company�� market areas. The Company offers a variety of mortgage loan products which generally are amortized over five to 25 years. Loans collateralized by 1-4 family residential real estate generally have been originated in amounts of no more than 89% of appraised value or have mortgage insurance. The Company requires mortgage title insurance and hazard insurance. Other than with respect to mortgage banking activities acquired in the ASB acquisition, the Company has elected to keep all 1-4 family residential loans for its own account rather than selling such loans into the secondary market. By doing so, the Company is able to realize a higher yield on these loans; however, the Company also incurs interest rate risk as well as the risks associated with nonpayments on such loans. The Company makes loans to finance the construction of residential and, to a lesser extent, nonresidential properties. Construction loans generally are collateralized by first liens on real estate and have floating interest rates. The Company provides agriculture loans for short-term crop production, including rice, cotton, milo and corn, farm equipment financing and agriculture real estate financing.
Investment Activities
The Company uses its securities portfolio to manage interest rate risk and as a source of income and liquidity for cash requirements. At December 31, 2012, the carrying amount of investment securities totaled $7.44 billion. At December 31, 2012, securities represented 51.0% of total assets. At December 31, 2012 and 2011, the Company did not own securities of any one issuer (other than the U.S. government and its agencies) for which aggregate adjusted cost exceeded 10% of the consolidated shareholders equity .
Sources of Funds
The Company offers a variety of deposit accounts having a wide range of interest rates an! d terms i! ncluding demand, savings, money market and time accounts. The Company relies primarily on competitive pricing policies and customer service to attract and retain these deposits. The Company does not have or accept any brokered deposits. Total deposits at December 31, 2012, were $11.64 billion. Noninterest-bearing deposits at December 31, 2012, were $3.02 billion. The Company utilizes borrowings to supplement deposits to fund its lending and investment activities. Borrowings consist of funds from the Federal Home Loan Bank (FHLB) and securities sold under repurchase agreements.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Chuck Carnevale]
Next, I run graphs on liquidity ratios and additional data on various valuation ratios to include price to book value (pb), price to cash flow (pcfl), price to free cash flow (pfcfl) and others that can be seen as options on the navigation bar to the left of the sample graph which only plots the current ratio (cr), a quick ratio (qr) and for those diehards concerned with volatility [size=11.0pt;line-height:115%; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi; mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language:EN-US;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA">��/p>
- [By mitu77]
Various chip manufacturers are now focused on their flash drive storage portfolio to leverage their top and bottom lines. EMC (EMC) is one such company that is a market leader in storage solution providers with global foot prints. Not just the storage, but EMC also provides various solutions like security, big data and hybrid cloud solution. The company�� emerging business is its storage business with high end solutions and performance. The size of data has been exponentially growing and this growth has enabled companies like EMC to flourish. IDC ( Market research company) and EMC had jointly estimated global data size to be around 2,837 Exabytes (EB) in 2012, and it is estimated to reach 40,000 EB by 2020. As the digital world continues to expand it is further anticipated that by 2020, average storage requirement would be around 5200 Gigabytes (GB) per person. 1 Exabytes (EB) = 1000 Petabytes (PB) = 1 million Terabytes (TB) =1 billion Gigabytes (GB)
- [By Rich Duprey]
Houston-based bank holding company�Prosperity Bancshares� (NYSE: PB ) �announced today its second-quarter dividend of $0.215 per share, the same rate it paid the last two quarters after raising the payout 10% from $0.195 per share.
Top 10 Safest Companies To Watch In Right Now: Granite Broadcasting Corp (GRRP)
Granite Broadcasting Corporation (Granite), incorporated in 1988, is a television broadcasting company focused on developing and operating small- to middle-market television broadcast stations in the United States. The Company owns and operates six middle-market stations, and has shared services agreements and advertising representation agreements to two additional stations owned by Malara Broadcast Group and one additional station owned by Four Seasons Broadcast Company. Granite's revenues are derived principally from local and national advertising and, to a lesser extent, from network compensation for the broadcast of programming, and from studio rental and commercial production activities. On July 26, 2006, the Company completed the acquisition of WBNG, Channel 12, the CBS-affiliated television station serving Binghamton and Elmira, New York. In December 2006, Granite, along with certain of its subsidiaries, voluntarily filed petitions for reorganization under Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York.
The stations that Granite owns and the stations to which the Company provides services under local services agreements operate in geographically diverse markets. With respect to the stations the Company owns, as of December 31, 2005, two stations are located in the west region (KBWB-San Francisco, California and KSEE-Fresno, California); four stations are located in the mid-west region (WDWB- Detroit, Michigan; WEEK-Peoria, Illinois; WISE-Fort Wayne, Indiana, and KBJR-Duluth, Minnesota), and two stations are located in the northeast region (WKBW-Buffalo and WTVH-Syracuse, New York).
As of December 31, 2005, four of the eight stations the Company owns are affiliated with NBC, one is affiliated with ABC, one is affiliated with CBS and two are affiliated with the WB Network, which has announced that it will no longer provide programming to WB affiliates effective September 2006. All three of the s! tations to which the Company provides services under local services agreements are located in the midwest region (WPTA-Fort Wayne, Indiana; KDLH-Duluth, Minnesota, and WAOE- Peoria, Illinois). WPTA is affiliated with ABC, KDLH is affiliated with CBS and WAOE is affiliated with UPN.
Affiliates of the major networks, which include NBC, ABC, CBS and Fox, receive a significant portion of their programming each day from the network. These major networks provide programming, and in some cases, cash payments, to their affiliated stations in exchange for a significant portion of the affiliates' advertising inventory during the network provided programs. These networks then sell this advertising time and retain the revenue.
Granite has entered into affiliation agreements with networks for each of the stations the Company owns. KSEE, WEEK, WISE (acquired on March 8, 2005) and KBJR are affiliated with NBC, WKBW is affiliated with ABC, WTVH is affiliated with CBS, and KBWB and WDWB stations are affiliated with WB. WPTA, which Granite sold, on March 7, 2005, to Malara Broadcast Group, is affiliated with ABC. With respect to the two stations that are owned by Malara Broadcast Group to which, since March 8, 2005, the Company provides services under local services agreements, KDLH is affiliated with CBS and WPTA is affiliated with ABC. WAOE, which is owned by Four Seasons Broadcast Company, is affiliated with UPN. In addition to these network affiliation agreements, Granite delivers WB programming on leased cable channels in Fort Wayne, Indiana and Duluth, Minnesota-Superior, Wisconsin. In the Duluth, Minnesota-Superior, Wisconsin, the Company delivers UPN programming on one of KBJR's digital streams, which programming is retransmitted in analog format by certain major cable systems in the DMA. In addition, KRII multicasts Weather Plus on another of KBJR's digital streams.
Since March 8, 2005, Granite has shared services agreements and advertising representation agreements (or loc! al servic! e agreements) to provide advertising, sales promotion and administrative services, and selected programming to two additional stations owned by Malara Broadcast Group, all of which Granite and Malara stations are affiliated with either ABC, NBC or CBS, the Company's Big Three Affiliates. On September 8, 2005, Granite entered into a definitive agreement (the KBWB Purchase and Sale Agreement) to sell substantially all of the assets of KBWB-TV, the WB affiliate serving the San Francisco, California television market, to AM Broadcasting KBWB, Inc. (the KBWB Buyer). In addition, on September 8, 2005, the Company entered into a definitive agreement (the WDWB Purchase and Sale Agreement, and together with the KBWB Purchase and Sale Agreement, the Purchase and Sale Agreements) to sell substantially all of the assets of WDWB-TV, the WB affiliate serving the Detroit Michigan television market, to AM Broadcasting WDWB, Inc. (the WDWB Buyer).
On September 1, 2005, Granite entered into an arrangement with Four Seasons Broadcast Company, under which the Company will provide advertising, sales promotion and administrative services to Four Seasons Broadcast Company-owned station WAOE-TV, the UPN affiliate serving Peoria-Bloomington, Illinois, in return for certain fees that will be paid by Four Seasons Broadcast Company to Granite. On January 13, 2006, Granite and certain of its subsidiaries entered into a definitive agreement with Television Station Group Holdings, LLC and certain of its subsidiaries to purchase substantially all of the assets of WBNG-TV, Channel 12, the CBS-affiliated television station serving Binghamton and Elmira, New York.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Lauren Pollock]
E.W. Scripps Co.(SSP) agreed to acquire two television stations, one in Detroit and another in Buffalo, N.Y., for a combined $110 million from Granite Broadcasting Corp.(GRRP)
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