Dell to Lay Off More Staff and Other Financially Challenged U.S. Companies for April 8

 
Please visit the insideARM bookstore for a limited time half-price deal on the Credit Manager’s Weekly Summary of Financially Challenged Companies.  Listed below are highlights from a recent issue that contains information on more than 200 companies. 

Behr Climate Systems Inc., the privately-held Fort Worth, Texas, manufacturer of refrigeration and heating equipment for motor vehicle parts and accessories, is closing its doors by 8/31–affecting 55 employees.  The company is part of the Germany-based Behr Group.

Bob Evans Farms Inc., the Columbus, Ohio, restaurant chain, reported that sales at restaurants open at least two fiscal years increased only 0.1%, compared with year-earlier figures.  Same-store receipts at the firm’s Mimi’s Café chain declined 4.3%–the eleventh consecutive monthly decline.  The company, which operates 580 Bob Evans restaurants and 126 Mimi’s Cafes, reported weather conditions adversely affected the company’s results.  In its last fiscal year, the company reported earnings of $55 million on sales of $1.6 billion.

CVR Eenrgy Inc., a Sugarland, Texas, maker of petroleum and nitrogen fertilizer, reported a fiscal net loss of $57 million, on a 2% revenue decline–to $2.9 billion.

Dell Inc., the Texas firm which is the second-largest personal computer maker in the world and which doesn’t expect to meet its May target date for shedding nearly 8,800 jobs, now expects to reduce its workforce by more than previously anticipated.  Citing the slowing U.S. economy, the company reported that more job cuts may be needed as the firm tries to reduce annual expenses by $3 billion over the next three years.

Foss Maritime Co., the Seattle, Wash. firm which is selling certain assets as part of its efforts to focus on its core operations of ocean towing and other forms of shipping assistance, is selling twenty-two barges and tugboats to Tidewater Holdings Inc., the Vancouver, Wash. firm which transports and stores petroleum products, fertilizer and other products, for an undisclosed amount.  The transaction is expected to close by 6/15.

Joanne’s Bed & Back Stores Inc. has filed Chapter 11 in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Maryland listing assets and liabilities of between $1 million and $100 million each.  The case number is 08-14606.  The company listed between 500 and 1,000 creditors.  A 341(a) creditor’s meeting will be held on 5/12.  The company’s disclosure statement is due by 7/31 while proof of claims are due by 8/11.

Journal Register Co., the Yardley, Pa. newspaper publisher which owns twenty-two daily newspapers and 321 non-daily publications, could be delisted from the New York Stock Exchange as a result of not meeting the minimum $1 per share listing requirement.  The company reported a fourth quarter loss of $148 million, primarily related to write downs.

Lazy Days RV Center Inc., a privately-held Seffner, Fla. firm, reported a fourth quarter net loss of $2.9 million, on revenue of $169 million.  This compares with a loss of $864,000 for the same period one year earlier.  For the year, the company reported a net loss of $2.5 million, on a slight revenue increase–to $778 million.  The annual loss compares with net income of $1.8 million for fiscal 2006.  While privately held, Lazy Days files reports with the SEC as a result of issuing $152 million in public bonds four years ago.

Leiner Health Products, the bankrupt vitamin-maker, has seen its unsecured creditors committee file an objection with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court regarding the company’s motion to make certain payments regarding a management asset sale bonus program.  The committee also objected to certain bidding procedures regarding the sale of nearly all of the company’s assets.

In what it describes as its third and final round of store closures, bankrupt Movie Gallery Inc. of Dothan, Ala. is closing another 160 stores nationwide.  Two months ago the company closed 400 of its underperforming outlets and last September, it closed more than 500.  The company still has more than 3,400 stores.

Superior Offshore International Inc., a Houston, sub sea construction and commercial diving services firm whose liabilities exceed its current assets by nearly $7 million, announced it would delay filing its 10-K annual report while it seeks alternative sources of funding.  Recently having hired Tudor, Pickering, Holt & Co. Securities Inc. to help it consider strategic alternatives, Superior reported that assets would have to be sold before the end of the month if it could not secure sufficient financing.

Woman’s Hospital at Dallas Regional in Dallas, which is owned by Health Management Associates Inc. of Naples, Fla., is closing its doors on 5/31–affecting 340 employees.