Today in BiS:
• Alison Huffman is the coordinator for Safe Kids Savannah, an organization dedicated solely to childhood accident prevention in Chatham County in a coalition with other groups concerned with child safety,
• Etakai Brown, the manager of Uncle Bob’s Storage, says she needs customer service and leadership skills and has to be a counselor as well as a psychologist.
• Accountant Kate Freeman suggests that if you’re considering adding rental property to your portfolio or own rental property you should know what your tax deductions can be.
• Labor attorney Wade Herring gives a heads up to employers to take a closer look at their separation practices following a ruling issued by the Georgia Department of Labor in October.
• Financial adviser Gary Brand sees many local municipalities instituting business development programs without adopting measurements of whether the programs are succeeding.
Wells Fargo earnings rise 11 percent
Fourth-quarter profit for Wells Fargo & Co., the biggest U.S. mortgage lender, jumped 11 percent as a steep drop in mortgage lending was offset by increased interest income.
Net income after dividend payments on preferred stock rose to $5.4 billion in the October-December period from $4.9 billion a year earlier. On a per-share basis, earnings were $1, slightly above the 99 cents forecast by Wall Street analysts.
Fourth-quarter revenue fell to $20.7 billion from $21.9 billion.
The rise in rates on U.S. mortgages in the latter part of last year continued to have a negative impact on Wells Fargo’s mortgage business.
The San Francisco-based bank, which is the fourth-largest U.S. bank by assets, controls about a third of the U.S. mortgage market. Much of its lending business has been coming from mortgage refinancing, which was reduced by the spike in interest rates.
MIT Holding signs agreement with equity fund
Savannah-based MIT Holding, Inc. (OTCQB: MITD) announced Tuesday that it has entered into a funding agreement with Wakabayashi Fund LLC, a private equity firm based in Tokyo and New York.
“Wakabayashi offers unique funding sources that we believe will compliment the MIT expansion using an acquisition revenue growth strategy,” said Walter H.C. Drakeford, co-CEO and co-president of MIT.
Wakabayashi Fund, LLC, a private equity fund with offices in Tokyo and New York, specializes in procuring capital for profitable and emerging small-cap and mid-cap companies.
Through its wholly-owned subsidiaries, MIT distributes wholesale drugs, administers intravenous infusions, operates ambulatory centers where therapies are administered and sells and rents home medical equipment.