NATIONAL

King Soopers parent posts 36% rise in fourth-quarter profit

Kroger Co., the nation's largest grocery chain and parent company of King Soopers, said Tuesday its fourth-quarter profit climbed 36 percent on strong sales growth.

Earnings rose to $384.8 million, or 54 cents a share, for the three months ended Dec. 31 from $282.1 million, or 39 cents, a year earlier. Excluding a gain of 3 cents a share from adjusting certain deferred tax balances, the company earned 51 cents a share in the latest period. Revenue grew 15 percent to $16.86 billion from $14.72 billion a year ago.

LOCAL

Janus boosts stake in soybean processor

Bunge Ltd. investor Janus Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in the world's biggest soybean processor to 10.1 percent from 6.7 percent, making it the third-biggest holder of Bunge shares, according to a regulatory filing.

The unit of Denver-based Janus Capital Group Inc. now holds 12.1 million Bunge shares, Janus said in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission said. The document didn't say when the shares were purchased or at what price.

COMMITTEE OKS ENERGY BILL House Bill 1281, which aims to double Colorado's renewable energy standard, was passed by the Senate State, Veterans and Military Affairs Committee on Tuesday. The bill increases the renewable energy standard to 20 percent for larger utilities and 10 percent for rural electric co-operatives by 2020.

NAME CHANGE VOTE SET Shareholders will vote in May on whether Golden-based New World Restaurant Group Inc. will change its name to Einstein Noah Restaurant Group Inc., the company said in an SEC filing this week. The company owns and franchises bagel shops under the Einstein Bros., Noah's and Manahattan names.

FIRM TO HIRE 100 An Oregon company that gathers market research on behalf of firms such as J.D. Power and Associates plans to hire 100 people for its Fort Collins call center over the next two months.

Portland-based Research Data Design is seeking part- and full-time interviewers, or research associates, as well as full-time supervisors. Average pay at the call center is $8 an hour, with those among the top 20 percent of earners receiving an average of $12.50 an hour.

TRAVEL WEB SITE SOLD Colorado Springs-based frequent-flier guru Randy Petersen has sold flyertalk.com, a Web site popular with business travelers. Internet Brands, which runs numerous consumer-oriented Web sites, bought flyertalk.com for an undisclosed amount. Petersen will stay on as a consultant for the next four years.

The Springs entrepreneur created the site more than eight years ago as a forum for frequent fliers to discuss mileage awards, hotel loyalty programs and related topics.

AIRPORT TRAFFIC GROWS Denver International Airport posted its busiest January ever as passenger traffic rose 5.6 percent over the same period last year. DIA said it handled 3.7 million passengers in January vs. 3.5 million in the year-ago period.

KAISER EXEC LEAVING Kaiser Permanente's executive director of operations in Colorado Springs, Shawn Raintree, announced he's leaving the health plan.

Leo Tokar, Kaiser's vice president of marketing, sales and development, is overseeing the Colorado Springs market, which has about 45,000 of Kaiser's 485,000 members in the state.

ECONOMY

Retail sales rise 0.1 percent in February

Sales at the nation's retailers edged up 0.1 percent in February as bad winter weather in many parts of the country kept shoppers away from the malls.

The tiny increase reported by the Commerce Department on Tuesday came after retail sales were flat in January as shoppers took a breather after buying briskly during the holidays.

A bright spot was auto sales, which went up by 0.9 percent in February. That followed a decrease of the same size in the previous month.

• Optimism among small-business owners declined last month as fewer companies said they expect sales will rise, a private survey found.

The National Federation of Independent Business' index of business optimism fell 0.7 point in February to 98.2, the Washington-based advocacy group said.

Some 17 percent of small-business owners said they expect higher sales, down from 22 percent in January, while those planning to add workers fell to 13 percent from 17 percent. The survey, whose results are consistent with the slowing economy, also showed less than one-third of the firms surveyed plan to increase capital spending, unchanged from a month ago.

• Inventories at U.S. businesses rose in January as sales declined by the most in four months, making it likely production will be limited in coming months. The value of unsold goods at factories, retailers and wholesalers increased 0.2 percent after no change in December, the Commerce Department said. Business sales dropped 0.7 percent.

THIS JUST IN...

• Attorney Neil Peck, of counsel in the Denver office of Snell & Wilmer LLP, has been appointed to the Council of Distinguished Advisors of the Straus Institute for Dispute Resolution at Pepperdine University School of Law.

• Stern Brothers & Co. has opened an office in Denver at 7601 E. Eighth Ave. Thomas E. Gibson was named senior vice president.

• Kathryn Wells, a Denver Health pediatrician and medical director of Denver County Family Crisis Center, received the inaugural National Leadership Award at the Putting the Pieces Together for Children and Families National Conference on substance abuse, child welfare and the courts.

• Maxine Brand, president of On Target Resource Network, was appointed to the board of directors of the Magellan Center.

• Wheat Ridge Cyclery will reopen its doors and hold a bicycle expo Saturday. The store is at 7085 W. 38th Ave.

• The Colorado Youth Corps Association promoted Jennifer Freeman to executive director.

• Colorado Custom Homes received two awards during the Home Builders Association of Northern Colorado's Major Achievements in Marketing Excellence gala event. The company was honored with "Best Web site" and "Best Collateral Package."

• Denver-based Intuitive Captive Solutions, a risk management company, hired Timothy B. Balfe as senior vice president of sales and marketing.

• Expetec Technology Services Inc. will open an office April 11 at 7950 S. Lincoln St., Littleton.

• Colorado State University has named Bob Rizzuto, a senior administrator in Colorado's higher education system, as vice president for finance and administration.

• Denver-based Cactus Marketing Communications, in partnership with Fort Lauderdale-based AgencyNet, was awarded Gold in the Business, Green/Nonprofit category, and was named overall Best in Show for its site ownyourC.com at the South by Southwest Web Awards.

• Upstate Colorado Economic Development will celebrate 20 years of service to Weld County at its annual dinner March 22 at the University of Northern Colorado Ballroom. Gov. Bill Ritter is the keynote speaker and will address his economic development agenda and commitment to renewable energy. To make a reservation, call 970-356-4565 by Thursday.

Rocky staff and wire reports

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