LOCAL BUSINESS
Larger role for bank leader
The leader of Charter One Bank in Ohio will add Michigan to his responsibilities.
RBS Citizens Financial Group Inc. named Ken Marblestone as president, Charter One and RBS Citizens, Michigan. Marblestone, a Cleveland-area resident and Detroit native, also will remain as president of Charter One and RBS Citizens, Ohio.
Marblestone, a member of the Executive Leadership Group, the company’s senior leadership team, succeeds Scott Swanson, who is resigning to pursue another opportunity, the company said. Marblestone’s banking career has included senior leadership assignments in wealth management, middle market and consumer lending in Michigan and Ohio. He joined the company in Michigan in 2005 and has been based in Cleveland since 2009.
“Ken is a seasoned banker who brings more than 20 years of banking experience in Michigan alone to this critical leadership role on our Michigan team,” said Robert Matthews, vice chairman for commercial banking.
ENTERTAINMENT
Atari files Chapter 11
Video game maker Atari’s U.S. operations have filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in an effort to separate from their French parent company.
In a statement, Atari says the move is necessary to secure investments it needs to grow in mobile and digital gaming.
Atari, which turned 40 last year, was a video game pioneer with games like Pong and Centipede, but has changed owners several times amid financial problems. France’s Infogrames Entertainment first took a stake in Atari in 2000. It acquired the remaining stake in 2008 and changed its name to Atari S.A.
In its filing with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in the Southern District of New York, Atari is seeking approval for $5.25 million in financing from private investment firm Tenor Capital Management.
AUTO INDUSTRY
Chrysler commits to Toledo
Chrysler’s chairman has reaffirmed a solid commitment to America — and to Toledo.
“We have made the decision that we’re going to take some key products such as the [Jeep] Wrangler and the Grand Cherokee and protect those as being true American icons, produce them in the U.S., and make them available nowhere else,” Sergio Marchionne, chief executive officer, said on National Public Radio. “And so every Wrangler that you see in the world gets produced in Toledo, Ohio. The Grand Cherokee is produced on Jefferson in downtown Detroit, and it will continue to be made there and it will be distributed globally. I’m not going to replicate that facility anywhere else.”
LEGAL
Hip implant settlement?
Johnson & Johnson, which is fighting more than 10,000 lawsuits over its recalled hip implants, is negotiating a potential settlement with patients that may eventually total more than $2 billion, Bloomberg News reported.
J&J, the world’s biggest seller of health-care products, offered to pay more than $200,000 a case, according to the people, a deal that could exceed $2 billion if most plaintiffs accept the terms. Lawyers for hip recipients have so far rejected the offer as too low, Bloomberg said.
In 2010, J&J recalled 93,000 all-metal hips worldwide, including 37,000 in the U.S., saying more than 12 percent failed within five years. Patients who sued contend they suffer pain and are immobilized by joint dislocations, infections and bone fractures. They alleged metal debris from the hips causes tissue death around the joints.
EARNINGS
Parker sees decline
Parker Hannifin’s net income fell 25 percent in its fiscal second quarter, stung by a drop in orders and weakness overseas due to difficult economic conditions. But the company’s performance topped analysts’ estimates.
Chairman, CEO and President Don Washkewicz said in a statement that the company expects the second half of its fiscal year to be stronger than the first half, which is a traditional pattern for the business.
Parker Hannifin, which has operations in Akron, Ravenna and Wadsworth and makes industrial hoses, airplane wheels and other products, earned $181 million, or $1.19 per share, for the three months ended Dec. 31. That’s down from $240.8 million, or $1.56 per share, in the prior-year period.
Analysts predicted earnings of $1.13 per share, according to a poll by research firm FactSet.
Revenue dipped 1 percent to $3.07 billion from $3.11 billion, but beat Wall Street’s average estimate of $2.93 billion.
Parker Hannifin, based in Cleveland, still expects fiscal 2013 earnings of $6.15 to $6.75 per share. Analysts forecast earnings of $6.41 per share.
Compiled from staff and wire reports