Business in brief: Avista will pay dividend in June
Avista Corp. will pay a quarterly dividend of 15 cents per common share, the company announced Thursday in a news release.
Investors holding Series K preferred stock can collect $1.73 per share, the release said.
Gary Ely, chairman and CEO of Avista Corp., said in a prepared statement that this is the sixth common stock dividend increase authorized by the board of directors in the past four years. He said it indicates to shareholders that the company is making progress in gaining financial strength.
The dividends are payable June 15 to shareholders of record at close of business on May 24.
Offerings to help build gold mine
Gold Reserve Inc. will raise money for a Venezuelan gold mine through a public offering of $75 million in convertible notes and 16 million new shares.
The share price has not been set yet.
The Brisas project would be one of Venezuela’s largest gold mines, producing approximately 10.4 million ounces of gold over two decades, according to company estimates. Gold Reserve received the mine permits in late March.
The company has filed preliminary prospectuses for the offering with both the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and with Canadian securities regulators.
The Brisas Mine will cost about $638 million to build. The open-pit mine is scheduled to open in late 2009.
Seattle
Kundig honored for architecture
Spokane native Tom Kundig has received one of the three prestigious Academy Awards in Architecture presented this year by the American Academy of Arts and Letters.
A principal in the Seattle firm Olson Sundberg Kundig Allen Architects, Kundig received the award for work that is “characterized by a strong personal direction,” according to a news release from the academy.
Kundig’s current projects include a 37-story tower in downtown Seattle, the Pratt Fine Arts Center in Seattle and the Sun Valley Center for the Arts in Ketchum, Idaho. Kundig holds a master’s degree in architecture from the University of Washington.
Philadelphia
Equal-Splenda suit goes to jury
The company behind Splenda knew consumers were confused about whether the sweetener contained sugar, but made ambiguous statements to keep it from being tagged as an artificial sweetener, an attorney for rival Equal said Thursday.
An expensive food fight within the $1.5 billion market for sugar substitutes goes to a jury today after a monthlong trial over Splenda’s marketing slogan, “Made from sugar so it tastes like sugar.” Merisant Co., which makes Equal, accuses Splenda’s marketers of misleading consumers and eroding Equal’s sales with false advertising.
McNeil Nutritionals, which markets Splenda, calls the lawsuit sour grapes.
The company says consumers prefer the taste of Splenda, leading to its huge market gains since its 2000 debut.