News Round-up

19

Meruelo Maddux Properties Inc. has obtained an $84 million loan to complete what will be downtown L.A.’s tallest residential building.

The loan, announced Monday, will enable the Los Angeles-based developer and landlord to complete a 35-story high-rise that will feature 214 apartments near Staples Center arena. An unidentified bank had pulled out of a deal to lend Meruelo Maddux $97 million in January and new financing was difficult to find.

An affiliate of Canyon Capital Realty Advisors LLC is providing the financing, Meruelo Maddux said in a statement. The 18-month loan carries a 12-percent interest rate and can be extended to four years if needed.

Meruelo Maddux closed up 6 cents, or 3 percent, to $1.99 in trading on the Nasdaq, then added 26 cents, or 13 percent in after-hours trading. The company is scheduled to release second-quarter results on Tuesday.



DaVita Earnings Fall

DaVita Inc. said after Monday’s market close that while its second-quarter revenue was up, net income was down 24 percent from a year ago, when the operator of kidney dialysis centers had a one-time gain from ending a supply agreement.

Net income for the El Segundo company declined to $95 million, or 90 cents a share, in the period that ended June 30, said DaVita, the nation’s second largest dialysis center operator.

The number of treatments provided by DaVita clinics during the quarter increased, growing revenue 7.2 percent to $1.41 billion. But stronger warnings about anemia drugs made by Amgen Inc. and Johnson & Johnson to treat fatigue in dialysis patients have reduced their use, and cut into DaVita’s per-patient revenue, said Mark Arnold, an analyst for Piper Jaffray & Co., in an interview with Bloomberg News.

Before the earnings release, DaVita fell 25 cents, or less than 1 percent, to $55.89 in trading on the New York Stock Exchange. No after hours trading data was available.



Staffing Firm’s Q2 Beats Expectations

On Assignment Inc. said after Monday’s market close that its second-quarter net income more than doubled, boosted by higher revenue in the specialty staffing company’s physician and information technology and engineering segments.

The Calabasas-based company’s net income rose to $6.1 million, or 17 cents per share for the quarter ended June 30. Revenue rose 9 percent to $156 million.

Excluding gain of 2 cents per share related to an interest rate swap, net income was 15 cents per share. Analysts polled by Thomson Financial expected a profit of 13 cents per share on revenue of $155 million. The company also offered third quarter guidance within Wall Street’s expectations.

Before the earnings release, On Assignment fell 52 cents, or 6 percent, to $8.15 in trading on the Nasdaq, but gained 9 cents, or 1 percent, to hit $8.24 in after hours trading.



Reliance Closes Purchase of Steel Service Center

Los Angeles-based Reliance Steel & Aluminum Co. said on Monday that it completed its acquisition of PNA Group Holding Corp., a steel service center company.

Reliance paid $340 million to billionaire Tom Gores’s Los Angeles-based Platinum Equity for PNA Group Holding, which buys steel and then processes and distributes it for industrial and commercial customers. As part of the deal, Reliance assumed $725 million of PNA’s debt.

Reliance funded the purchase, first announced in June, with proceeds from a new $500 million senior unsecured term loan and borrowings under an existing $1.1 billion credit facility. About $200 million remains available under the credit facility.