Global Axcess Corp. officials had a lot to talk about during their quarterly conference call last week.
They talked a great deal about the financial results from the Jacksonville-based company's two business lines, operating automated teller machine and DVD kiosk networks.
They commented on two new business deals to add more ATM locations at an unnamed "major" Northeastern grocery chain and to add DVD kiosks at the Sedano's supermarket chain in Central and South Florida.
They discussed a forbearance agreement on its credit facilities with Fifth Third Bank.
Then, they mentioned that the company is up for sale.
Talk about burying the lead!
To be fair, a public company can't talk a lot about the possibility of a sale until a deal is made, so Global Axcess officials didn't really have much they could say.
But in a flurry of news releases the company issued late Wednesday and discussed during the conference call Thursday morning, the possibility of a sale was by far the most interesting news.
Chief Executive Officer Kevin Reager, who just joined the company in August, said during the call that Global Axcess has engaged investment banking firm Golding & Co. "to explore strategic alternatives with an emphasis on the sale of the company."
"That process is already under way as management is working with our investment bankers," he said.
Unfortunately, Reager also said the company won't say anything more about the process "until there is something substantial to report." So unless the company does find a merger or buyout partner, officials won't talk about it.
Whether or not the company is eventually sold, Reager said Global Axcess is taking steps to improve operations, including restructuring its sales team and installing a new software platform to better manage and deploy its ATMs.
Meanwhile, Global Axcess reported a net loss of $4.7 million, or 21 cents a share, in the third quarter, with revenue falling 1.8 percent to $7.9 million.
Goldman Sachs controls most of Interline
After its buyout was completed in September, investment banking giant Goldman Sachs now controls most of Jacksonville-based Interline Brands Inc.
Interline, which distributes maintenance, repair and operations products nationwide, announced in May the $1.1 billion buyout agreement with affiliates of Goldman Sachs and private equity firm P2 Capital Partners LLC. The deal was completed Sept. 7.
In a Securities and Exchange Commission filing last week, Interline revealed the new ownership structure of the company. Goldman Sachs now controls 84 percent of the company, P2 controls 14 percent and certain members of Interline's management own the other 2 percent.
Although the company is now privately owned, Interline did announce its third-quarter results last week. The company recorded a net loss of $28.4 million in the quarter, due to $54.6 million in merger-related expenses. Excluding those expenses, adjusted operating income rose 6.1 percent to $27.7 million.
Sales in the quarter rose 5.7 percent to $350.3 million.
Interline employs about 565 people in Jacksonville and 3,600 throughout its national network. Company officials have said the buyout does not affect operations.
Fortegra reports lower-than-expected earnings
Fortegra Financial Corp.'s stock has traded below its December 2010 initial public offering price of $11 for more than a year, and its third-quarter earnings won't help the stock climb back up.
The Jacksonville-based insurance services company last week reported adjusted earnings of 23 cents a share, 2 cents higher than last year but 3 cents below the average forecast of analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial.
Fortegra CEO Richard Kahlbaugh said he was happy with the results in a conference call with analysts.
"The business performed well despite a challenging economic and regulatory environment as our diversified portfolio of products and services delivered satisfactory overall results," he said.
Keefe, Bruyette & Woods analyst Frank Lee said in a research note the earnings were lower than expected because of lower profit margins in the company's business process outsourcing and wholesale brokerage divisions, partially offset by better results in its payment protection division.
However, Lee maintains an "outperform" rating on the stock.
"Despite the miss, we remain encouraged by payment protection results, Fortegra's largest segment, which continues to beat our expectations driven by solid margin expansion," he said.
"We continue to view Fortegra as a uniquely positioned insurance services company with a strong growth outlook and an impressive profitability profile, and we view Fortegra shares as undervalued at current price levels," Lee said.
Fortegra's stock rose 25 cents to $8.50 on Tuesday after the late Monday earnings announcement.
Lee has a $10 price target for the stock, still below the IPO price.
Still no revenue for ParkerVision
ParkerVision Inc. last week reported another quarterly net loss with no revenue, and remained vague about when the company may see revenue from its wireless radio technology.
In its quarterly conference call, CEO Jeff Parker said the company continues to work with an unnamed original equipment manufacturer in Asia that is considering using ParkerVision's technology in its mobile phones.
"They continue to indicate to us their enthusiasm for our technology," said Parker, and he also said the relationship is "further than we've ever been with a handset OEM." However, he did not indicate when that relationship may translate into revenue.
Parker reiterated his faith in the company's technology, which he said offers the potential to reduce power consumption and heat in mobile devices. He said the company has obtained 11 new patents since July and now has a total of 206 patents issued for its technology.
"We continue to believe that our technologies are enabling fundamental advances in the rapidly expanding wireless industry," he said.
ParkerVision reported a net loss of $5 million, or 6 cents a share, for the third quarter.
Analyst upgrades Stein Mart
Stein Mart Inc. made some investors nervous 10 days ago when it announced it would have to restate earnings reports back to 2009 to fix accounting errors. But at least one analyst isn't concerned.
Sidoti & Co. analyst Michael Richardson is impressed enough with Stein Mart's sales turnaround that he upgraded his rating on the Jacksonville-based fashion retailer last week from "neutral" to "buy."
"We contend that Stein Mart will maintain the momentum that saw same-store sales increases of 3.1 percent in the third quarter of fiscal 2012 and 1.6 percent in the second quarter," Richardson said in a research note.
He said the company in the third quarter posted its best increase in same-store sales –– sales at stores that have been open for more than one year –– since 2005.
Richardson thinks the sales increase shows Stein Mart's strategy of reducing coupons and relying more on everyday low prices has been a success. He also cites "an improved merchandise assortment, including the introduction of new national brands," and the company's recent launch of a private label credit card for lifting sales.
Richardson raised his target price on Stein Mart's stock from $9 to $11. The stock has been trading close to $7 recently and hasn't been at $11 for nearly three years.
Jacksonville Bancorp reports loss
Jacksonville Bancorp Inc. last week reported a third-quarter net loss of $10.7 million, or $1.81 per share.
The parent company of The Jacksonville Bank said its results were impacted by increases in its provision for loan losses and in loan-related expenses, a decrease in interest income on loans and a non-cash writeoff of goodwill on its balance sheet.
Jacksonville Bancorp has decreased its non-performing assets from $56 million, or 9.2 percent of assets, as of Sept. 30, 2011, to $39.8 million, or 7.2 percent of assets, at the end of the 2012 third quarter. The company said this is consistent with an overall strategy to "accelerate the disposition of substandard assets."
Stakool has third-quarter loss
Jacksonville-based Stakool Inc. had a third-quarter net loss of $2.9 million on revenue of $2,251, according to an SEC filing. Most of the loss resulted from stock-based compensation costs.
Stakool is the parent company of Anthus Life Corp., which produces natural and organic food products.
According to the SEC filing, "the company has one product line in the natural food category currently, and will deploy several additional product lines fostering rapid growth in retail accounts, consumer exposure and revenue."
For the first nine months of this year, Stakool had a net loss of $3.8 million on sales of $17,388.
The company's stock trades in the over-the-counter market under the ticker symbol "STKO."
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