Tennis of Spokane staying put

The owners of Tennis of Spokane want to assure their customers that the business isn’t going anywhere.

Some customers may have thought the 10-year-old business would close because Loulou’s Ski Chalet is going out of business next month, said David Benish, who owns Tennis of Spokane with his wife, Karen. The tennis shop is located in the Loulou’s building and sells racquets, gear and clothing, as well as offering re-stringing.

“Every person who comes into this shop is very important to us,” David Benish said.

Instead, the tennis shop, which is located at 428 E. Pacific Ave., will have a new entrance on Sherman Street, switching from its current doorway on Pacific. The new entrance will be “tennis court green” with black lettering, Benish said.

A tropical fish store will move into the basement below the tennis shop, Loulou’s founder, Loulou Kneubuhler, said last week. He sold the ski business in 1996, but still owns the building.

Potlatch reports 1Q earnings of $3.8 million

Potlatch Corp. reported first-quarter earnings of $3.8 million Tuesday, citing improved results from its pulp-based segment.

The earnings amounted to 13 cents per share, compared with a loss of $6.3 million, or 22 cents per share, from continuing operations during the first quarter of 2004.

Spokane-based Potlatch sold three oriented strand board plants in Minnesota last fall. Including income from the OSB plants, the company reported earnings of $21.8 million during the first quarter of 2004.

Higher prices for paperboard helped the company’s pulp segment post a profit during the first quarter, said Penn Siegel, Potlatch’s chairman and chief executive officer. Paperboard is used in consumer packaging.

Siegel also said that higher prices for lumber products during the first quarter were offset by higher log prices.

“Home building activity continues to be strong despite a climate of slowly rising interest rates,” Siegel said. “Although housing starts may not reach the record levels of the past two years, 2005 should be a good year for the housing industry.”

Idaho bank earnings up $300,000 over ‘04

Idaho Independent Bank reported first quarter income of $1.4 million on Tuesday, an increase of $300,000 from the bank’s 2004 first-quarter results.

Earnings per share equaled 52 cents during the first quarter, compared with 40 cents per share a year ago.

The bank’s total assets rose nearly 14 percent to $425 million during the first quarter.

The state-chartered bank was founded in 1993. Idaho Independent Bank has nine branches and 184 employees. A 10th branch is scheduled to open in Star, Idaho, this spring.

Supreme Court won’t ease fraud standards

Washington The Supreme Court declined to loosen the standard for proving securities fraud, ruling Tuesday that investors must show a clear link between the alleged fraud and a drop in stock price to proceed with their lawsuits.

In a unanimous decision, justices sided with Dura Pharmaceuticals Inc., which was sued for fraud following its November 1998 disclosure that its asthma drug dispenser didn’t receive federal approval as expected. As a result, investors suing major corporations such as Enron Corp. could have a tougher case in court.

Dura investors said they should recover for losses from a precipitous stock drop, arguing that the company knowingly made false statements about the device’s prospects. Dura is now owned by Ireland’s Elan Corp.

But Justice Stephen G. Breyer, writing for the court, said that ruling by the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals runs counter to the basic principle that a corporate wrong must cause a loss.

“We consider a Ninth Circuit holding that a plaintiff can satisfy this requirement simply by alleging in the complaint and subsequently establishing that the price of the security on the date of purchase was inflated,” Breyer wrote. “In our view, the Ninth Circuit is wrong.”

The appeals court had allowed investors to proceed with their lawsuit under the corporate fraud theory of “loss causation.” The 9th Circuit reasoned that investors need not show the disclosure of fraud caused a stock drop, so long as they can point to share prices that were artificially high at the time of purchase because of misleading statements.