Money Talk: Arkansas’ First Publicly-Held REIT Begins Trading On NASDAQ Today

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ARKANSAS’ FIRST PUBLICLY-HELD REIT BEGINS TRADING ON NASDAQ TODAY
Arkansas’ newest publicly traded entity, Communications Sales & Leasing Inc., or CS&L, will begin trading today on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange under the symbol, “CSAL.”

After the close of market Friday, Windstream Holdings Inc. completed the spinoff of CS&L in what is believed to be the first publicly traded real estate investment trust (REIT) to solely focus on acquiring and leasing communications distribution assets, company officials said.

CS&L, which will also be a member of the S&P 400 Midcap Index, is the first Arkansas-based REIT to trade on Wall Street. Most analysts had expected Dillard’s to be the first Arkansas company to put its real estate assets into a trust, but the retail giant has given no word if that will happen soon.

In November, shares of Dillard’s Inc. jumped nearly 10% in heavy trading after San Francisco-based Marcato Capital Management released a presentation outlining opportunities “for significantly increasing shareholder value” at the Little Rock department store chain. In 2011, Dillard’s used a REIT for some of its real estate for tax reasons, but has not moved forward with a rumored spin off for its nearly 50 million square feet of retail holdings across the U.S.

STATE INSURANCE DEPARTMENT SAYS WORKERS’ COMPENSATION RATES TO MOVE LOWER IN JULY
Arkansas workers’ compensation rates for the voluntary and assigned risk markets will soon fall by 2.1% and 3%, respectively, State Insurance Commissioner Allen Kerr recently announced. Those new rates will take effect on July 1, 2015.

Kerr’s office cited Act 796 of 1993 as the impetus for the aggressive health and safety programs which are currently in effect in many workplaces in Arkansas. “Employers, workers, legislators, and regulators have made great progress in providing a healthy workers’ compensation system, which stimulates the economy and drives down the cost of doing business in our state,” said Kerr. “Investment in a stable workers’ compensation system is traditionally recognized as a prime economic development tool.”

Despite the overall decline in premium rates, statewide premium volume has grown since the mid-1990s. Costs in the voluntary market are nearly 54% lower than in 1996, resulting in significant savings to Arkansas employers, state insurance officials said.

Since the passage of the all-encompassing workers’ compensation legislative reform in 1993, Arkansas has seen fewer workplace accidents as well as less severe accidents.

SIMMONS QUARTERLY EARNINGS RISE
Simmons First National Corp.’s first quarter earnings rose 44% as the Pine Bluff-based regional banking group completed the acquisition of Liberty Bancshares in Springfield, Mo., and Union City, Tenn.-based Community First Bancshares in the first three months of fiscal 2015.

For the period ended March 31, the Arkansas regional bank posted second quarter net income of $8.7 million, or 39 cents per share, compared to net income of $4.3 million, or 27 cents per share, a year ago. Read more here.