Surry Business

Hanesbrands Inc. (NYSE: HBI) will host a live Internet webcast of its quarterly investor conference call at 10 a.m. Thursday, Jan. 31. The company will review results for the fourth quarter and fiscal year that ended Dec. 29, 2007.

The live Internet broadcast may be accessed on the home page of the Hanesbrands corporate Web site.

Hanesbrands also will issue a press release summarizing the quarterly and annual results before trading begins on the New York Stock Exchange that day. SurryBusiness.com will post the release as soon as its available.

Replays of the conference call will be available via the Internet and telephone. An archived replay of the conference call webcast will be available in the investors section of the Hanesbrands corporate Web site. The telephone playback will be available from approximately noon on Jan. 31 until midnight Feb. 7, 2008. To hear the replay, call toll-free (800) 642-1687 or by toll call to (706) 645-9291. The replay pass code is 29092926.

Hanesbrands Inc. is a leading marketer of innerwear, outerwear and hosiery apparel under strong consumer brands including Hanes, Champion, Playtex, Bali, Just My Size, barelythere and Wonderbra. The company designs, manufactures, sources and sells T-shirts, bras, panties, men’s underwear, children’s underwear, socks, hosiery, casualwear and activewear.

Hanesbrands has approximately 50,000 employees in more than 25 countries. In Surry County it manufactures women’s hosiery at 645 W. Pine St., Mount Airy.

It’s a question of when – not if – the national economic slowdown will affect the job market in the Triad, the High Point Enterprise reported today.

“I expect we are going to feel it here,” Don Jud, professor emeritus of business administration at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, told the newspaper. “The pattern is that the Triad economy tracks the nation pretty closely. For example, building permits nationally are down 24 percent. Here, we are down 25 percent.”

Two major Triad em­ployers with ties to Surry County already announced job cut­backs this month. Ashe­boro-based Klaussner Home Furnishings will close furni­ture Plant 5 in two months, laying off 130 workers, and Hanesbrands Inc. intends to close textile plants in Da­vie and Randolph counties, eliminating 120 jobs.  Klaussner in September selected Salem Logistics, which has a 350,000-square-foot distribution hub in Pilot Mountain, as its exclusive contractor for transportation and logistics. Hanesbrands manufactures women’s hosiery at its Mount Airy plant, 645 W. Pine.

The slump in the national economy will catch up to the Triad “if there’s a general downturn in consumer spend­ing,” said Mike McCully, eco­nomics instructor at High Point University. One risk fac­tor for the Triad is that many key employers, such as Dell Inc. and furnishings compa­nies, depend on big-ticket pur­chases by consumers, he told the High Point Enterprise. “If the economy is not do­ing well, that’s often the stuff that people will cut back on,” McCully said.

Bank of America Corp. said today its fourth-quarter 2007 earnings fell to $268 million, or 5 cents per share, from $5.26 billion, or $1.16 billion, in the quarter that ended Dec. 31, 2006.

Wachovia Corp. said its fourth-quarter profit fell to $51 million, or 3 cents per share, from $2.3 billion, or $1.20 per share, during the same three-month period a year earlier.

Both banks are headquartered in Charlotte. Bank of America has one Surry County office at 704 Independence Boulevard in Mount Airy. Wachovia has offices at 105 N. Crutchfield in Dobson, 554 N. Main in Mount Airy and 1500 N. Bridge in Elkin.

Bank of America, the nation’s second-largest bank, said its fourth-quarter revenue fell 31 percent to $12.67 billion. Analysts expected earnings of 18 cents per share on revenue of $13.24 billion, according to a poll by Thomson Financial.

Bank of America shares rose to around $37.00 in morning trading after the Federal Reserve Bank’s announcement of a 0.75 percent decrease in its overnight lending rate.

Excluding merger-related expenses, Wachovia earned $160 million, or 8 cents per share, during the fourth quarter. Analysts polled by Thomson Financial, on average, forecast earnings of 33 cents per share for the quarter.

Wachovia, the nation’s fourth-largest bank, took a $1.7 billion write-down during the quarter due to weakening credit markets. Because of rising delinquencies and defaults, Wachovia also set aside $1.5 billion to cover losses.

Wachovia shares rose to more than $31.00 after the Fed’s announcement.

For the full year, Bank of America reported earnings of $14.98 billion, or $3.30 per share, compared to $21.13 billion, or $4.59 cents per share, in 2006. The result was slightly better than analysts predicted.

For the full year, Wachovia earned $6.31 billion, or $3.31 per share, compared to $7.79 billion, or $4.72 per share, in 2006.

Triad MLS reports 467 homes, condos and townhouses were sold in the Winston-Salem-area in December 2007 compared to 550 in the same month a year earlier. Residential-home sales (407 last month, 491 in 2006) accounted for all of the decline in volume.

However, median and average sales prices rose at the end of 2007, climbing to $191,633 from $187,088 (2.4 percent) on average. The biggest jump: nearly 11 percent in the price of four-bedroom homes.

Sales, including condos and townhouses, totaled $89.5 million, compared to nearly $103 million in December 2006.

Winston-Salem-area brokers sold more one- and two-bedroom houses in December 2007 — 55 versus 31 a year earlier. Three-bedroom homes’ sales fell 24 percent and four-bedroom sales were 17 percent lower.

Though the numbers are small, they suggest it’s taking longer to sell homes. Fifty-three percent of the houses sold in December 2006 were the market for more than two months and 31 percent for more than four months. In December 2007, 58 percent were listed for more than 60 days and 35 percent for more than four months.

Triad MLS reports home, townhouse and condo sales in northwest North Carolina’s Piedmont Triad region and in three multi-county sales areas centered on Winston-Salem, Greensboro and High Point. The Winston-Salem area includes Forsyth and Stokes counties adjoining Surry County.

Insteel Industries Inc. (Nasdaq: IIIN) of Mount Airy today said net earnings fell 28 percent in the first fiscal quarter that ended Dec. 29, 2007, when net sales decreased 5.4 percent compared to the same quarter in 2006.

However, operating activities in continuing operations provided $17.3 million of cash during the quarter compared with $4.2 million a year ago. The strong operating cash flow for the quarter enabled Insteel to spend $4.9 million on capital expenditures, repurchase 208,585 shares or $2.5 million of common stock, pay $500,000 in dividends and end the quarter debt-free with $17.7 million of cash, an increase of $9 million from the previous quarter’s end.

Net earnings for the first quarter were $4.2 million, or $0.23 per diluted share, compared with $5.8 million, or $0.32 per diluted share, for the same period last year. Net sales for the quarter decreased from $69.7 million in the 2006 quarter to $66 million. Shipments were down 6.1 percent. Average selling prices rose 0.7 percent.

“Considering the weak demand that we experienced in certain of our markets and rising raw material costs, Insteel posted solid results for the first quarter,” said H.O. Woltz III, Insteel’s president and chief executive officer in a press release. “Shipments for the quarter were unfavorably impacted by the continued downturn in housing-related demand and low-priced import competition in our PC strand business. Demand for engineered structural mesh (ESM) and other products for markets related to nonresidential construction remained relatively strong.”

Gross profit for the quarter decreased to $10.6 million (16.1 percent of net sales) from $13.6 million (19.5 percent of net sales) a year ago due to the escalation in raw material costs, lower shipments and higher unit-conversion costs. Most of the company’s manufacturing facilities operated on reduced schedules during the quarter in response to the soft market conditions and usual seasonal downturn during what is typically the weakest shipment period of the year.

Sharing his outlook for the remainder of 2008, Woltz said, “Although the favorable trends for most categories of nonresidential construction are expected to continue, we anticipate the weakness in residential construction will begin to impact commercial construction markets as the year progresses,” he said. “In addition, prices for our primary raw material, hot-rolled steel wire rod, are rising to unprecedented levels in spite of weak demand across most markets as the drop-off in import availability has caused supply to fall faster than demand. Under these circumstances, it may be difficult for us to fully recover these costs in our markets depending upon competitive dynamics.

“While business conditions in 2008 are likely to be more challenging than in recent years, we believe that our aggressive investment program ideally positions the company to capitalize on future growth in demand and achieve significant cost reductions. As we move further into the year, we expect to benefit from the usual seasonal upturn in demand and gradually increasing contributions from our ESM product line as we continue to ramp up the expansions at our North Carolina and Texas facilities.”

On Jan. 2, Insteel’s shares began trading on the NASDAQ Global Select Market under the symbol IIIN. The NASDAQ Global Select Market, one of the three market tiers at NASDAQ, recognizes NASDAQ’s world-class listed companies and their commitment to high standards and good governance. It is reserved for companies that meet the highest initial listing standards in the world based on financial and liquidity requirements. Prior to the upgrade, Insteel’s shares were traded on the NASDAQ Global Market under the same symbol.

Insteel held a conference call today to discuss the first-quarter financial results. A live webcast of this call can be accessed on the company’s website at http://investor.insteel.com/.

Insteel Industries is one of the nation’s largest manufacturers of steel wire reinforcing products for concrete construction applications. The company manufactures and markets PC strand and welded wire reinforcement, including concrete pipe reinforcement, ESM and standard welded wire reinforcement. Insteel’s products are sold primarily to manufacturers of concrete products used in nonresidential construction.

Headquartered in Surry County, North Carolina, Insteel operates six manufacturing facilities in the United States.

In a recent six-week sales period, the Sears Roebuck and Co. authorized retail store at 1217 W. Lebanon in Mount Airy had the largest improvement in sales among the eight stores in its North Carolina district.

Surry County’s sole Sears store sells appliances, lawn and garden equipment, electronics, Craftsman tools and exercise equipment.

It’s open seven days a week, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 1 to 6 p.m. Sunday.

Amber Contracting of Mount Airy this month will begin construction of a $1.3-million addition to Abington Elementary School in Virginia.

The job is to be finished by year’s end. Gary Huffman is the project manager.

The 13,920-square foot-addition will include five classrooms, a computer lab, a library and two special education classrooms.

Amber Contracting has offices in Mount Airy and Salem, Va. The company specializes in commercial design-build construction work. Partners in the company are Josh Cox, Bob Demcio and Gary Huffman. They and project manager Chuck Johnson together have more than 100 years of construction experience.

LGS Transport in Mount Airy, formerly at 221 Snowhill Drive, has moved its headquarters to 137 Landform Lane off of Old U.S. 601.

The company provides general freight hauling and also lowboy trailers for transporting vehicles, heavy equipment and specialized machinery. It make deliveries and pickups in all of the “lower 48” states.

LGS Transport’s new headquarters will double as a maintenance facility for its parent company, Sawyers Sign Service owned by Larry G. Sawyers at 483 Belvue Drive.

Sawyers Sign Service, established in 1992, is a complete sign installation and manufacturing company. It employs graphic artists, sales representatives and fabrication and installation crews and can guide clients through original imaging to final installation. The company is a state-licensed general contractor and engineer as well as a UL-certified manufacturer.

Sawyers Sign’s services include brand conversions, expert sign design and all aspects of sign construction, zoning research and permit acquisition. Its products include canopy fascias, digital signs, high-rise signs, pylon signs, decals, interior graphics, and lighted panaflex. All are constructed from durable materials such as metal. ACM, and vinyl.

From its base in Mount Airy, N.C., Sawyers Sign Service serves clients throughout the southeastern United States.

Surry County-based staffing service Workforce Carolina has promoted Kendra Garaventa to vice president of sales and marketing and Traci Hamilton to director of operations.

Garaventa also will be responsible for the company’s new business development and customer retention. She is a University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill graduate who joined WorkForce Carolina three years ago.

Hamilton will supervise daily operations at WorkForce Carolina’s Mount Airy and Elkin offices. She is a graduate of Montreat College with a bachelor’s degree in human services. She joined WorkForce Carolina in 1995.

Now in its 20th year, WorkForce Carolina employs approximately 3,000 people annually, supplying workers for companies in Alleghany, Forsyth, Iredell, Surry, Stokes, Wilkes, and Yadkin counties in North Carolina and in Carroll, Grayson and Patrick counties in Virginia. It is Surry County’s fifth-largest employer.

WorkForce Carolina was named to the Triad Business Journal’s 50 fastest-growing independently owned businesses in 2006 and “Best Places to Work in the Triad” in 2006 and 2007.

Surry Community College in Dobson is rapidly expanding its facilities to train welders, Brooke R. Corwin reports today in The Surry Messenger.

As SurryBusiness.com reported previously, a shortage of welders and other metal fabricators is preventing or delaying several companies’ expansion in Surry County. The college offers welding classes, but has had trouble attracting prospective students.

The problem of finding welders came up again earlier this month at the economic summit in Mount Airy — ironically, a meeting held just three blocks away from metals-fabricator Ottenweller Company, one of the manufacturers mentioned in Corwin’s article.

The others are Granite Tactical Vehicles in Pilot Mountain, one of several U.S. firms developing specialized, hardened vehicles for use by military troops and security contractors; CK Technologies of Mount Airy, which manufactures truck parts for Volvo and Freightliner; and Tampco of Elkin, which manufactures stainless steel fittings for marine uses. All, like Ottenweller, have unfilled job openings.

All need workers trained in precision welding.

“It’s very delicate work,” said Chad Bledsoe, dean of SCC’s business, computer and engineering technologies. “When you think of welding you often think of slapping things together. Those days are gone.”

The demanding curriculum led some students to drop out of a fall welding course offered through the college’s Corporate and Continuing Education Division. However, with many industrial welding jobs now paying $60,000 a year or more, Vice President George Sappenfield says he hopes the new classes offered this semester will attract plenty of interest.

“We hope, now that the information is out there, people will realize that with welding there are jobs where you can make a pretty good living,” Sappenfield told Corwin. “These are solid industries looking for welders. They are not going to fold anytime soon.”

Surry Community College offers one-semester courses and one-year diploma programs that prepare students for welding certification tests.

The corporate and continuing education division this month will begin two classes designed specifically for Granite Tactical’s needs. Each requires 75 hours of classroom time.