Finance & Capital Management

Hartford, Conn. -- Cyber risks, medical cost inflation, and legal liability are among the top concerns for American businesses of all sizes, according to results from the second annual Travelers Business Risk Index. The survey polled more than 1,200 business decision makers across the country to better understand what they believe poses the biggest threat to their businesses.

Atlanta – The Home Depot Inc. benefited from improvements in the housing market and the weather in the first quarter of fiscal 2015. Net earnings increased to $1.58 billion, up 14% from $1.38 billion in the first quarter a year ago.

The Home Depot reported sales of $20.9 billion for the first quarter of fiscal 2015, a 6.1% increase from the first quarter of fiscal 2014.

Lackluster traffic at its Golf Galaxy stores led Dick’s Sporting Goods to report a lackluster profit in the first quarter.

Beaverton, Ore. - Richard King, former president and COO of Albertsons Inc., has been elected to the Digimarc board of directors. His 45 years of retail, consumer products and food industry experience will provide advice Digimarc expands its involvement in the retail industry with its barcode technology.

Salt Lake City - Phillips Edison & Co. is introducing a new program created to empower and prepare emerging leaders for a successful future. Innovation Labs is a professional development series that places associates from various departments on a team and assigns a real-life challenge facing the company.

New York – U.S. consumers are continuing to show moderate signs of the optimism Americans are so famous for. According to the Nielsen consumer confidence index, U.S. consumer confidence increased one index point in the first quarter of 2015 to a score of 107, maintaining an above-the-baseline (100) optimism level for one year.

The Obama administration’s plan to revise federal overtime regulations would likely “hollow out” low- and mid-level management positions in the retail industry and result in a shift toward more hourly and part-time workers, according to a new National Retail Federation (NRF) report.

Pittsburgh – Dick’s Sporting Goods Inc. met Wall Street expectations with net income of $63.34 million in the first quarter of fiscal 2015, a 9% decrease from $69.99 million the same period a year earlier. The retailer also met the Street with consolidated net sales of $1.56 billion, a 9% increase from $1.34 billion.

However, same-store sales growth of 1% fell short of Wall Street predictions. Rising selling, general and administrative (SG&A) and pre-opening expenses dug into Dick’s profit.