Corporate Governance

The Woodlands, Texas – Conn’s Inc. has named VP and chief accounting officer Mark Haley as interim CFO in the wake of the departure of former CFO Brian Taylor. The company also reported a net loss of $3.06 million in the third quarter of fiscal 2015, compared to net income of $24.38 million a year earlier, missing Wall Street expectations.  

Cary, N.C. – The Pantry Inc. beat Wall Street expectations with net income but missed on revenue in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2014. Net income dramatically shot up to $14.7 million from $1 million in the same period a year earlier, aided by costs and expenses that remained level or dropped.   Revenue fell 3% to $1.95 billion from $2.02 billion, with declining fuel sales offsetting rising merchandising sales.   

Chicago - Nearly half of CFOs expect the U.S. economy to improve during the next six months and only 9% expect it to worsen, according to the Grant Thornton LLP 2014 Fall CFO Survey. The biannual survey reflects the insights of more than 1,000 CFOs and other senior financial executives across the United States.  

The nation’s leading automotive retailer credited investments in inventory and favorable weather with helping it achieve its 33rd consecutive quarter of double digit earnings growth.

The company said sales for its first quarter ended Nov. 22 increased 8 percent to $2.3 billion while same store sales increased 4.5 percent. Profits for the period increased 9.3 percent to $238.3 million while earnings per share advanced 15.6 percent to $7.27 and were aided by the company’s repurchase of 571,000 shares.

CANTON, Mass. - Dunkin’ Donuts is launching its own green building certification program, called DD Green, to help franchisees build sustainable, energy-efficient restaurants.    In conjunction with the announcement, the company is celebrating the grand opening of a DD Green certified Dunkin' Donuts restaurant in Long Beach, California. Dunkin' Donuts will work with franchisees and construction managers to build 100 new Dunkin' Donuts restaurants DD Green certified by the end of 2016.

Higher same store sales and its purchase of Saks Inc. last year helped Hudson’s Bay Co. post a smaller quarterly loss in the third quarter.

The company had a $13 million net loss and profits of $116 million, both improvements from the same time last year. Same-store sales rose 1.7% in the third quarter.

SCOTTSDALE, Arizona - JDA Software announced the creation of JDA Labs – a research and development group assembled to drive game-changing innovation.   This global team, headquartered in Montreal, will innovate new and existing products and deliver patents, best practices and entirely new products to the market. JDA Labs currently  is driving research and innovation around three key areas: data science, user experience and product innovation.  

Menomonee Falls, Wis. – Consumers who want to shop at odd hours to avoid dealing with holiday crowds will have plenty of opportunities at Kohl’s. Kohl’s Department Stores will keep its doors open for more than 100 hours straight from 6 a.m. on Friday, Dec. 19 through 6 p.m. on Christmas Eve, Wednesday, Dec. 24.