Business briefs

New stores, hotels on Denham Springs’ horizon
DENHAM SPRINGS (AP) — A flurry of development south of Interstate 12 is poised to bring acres of new shopping, hotels, apartments, restaurants and professional services to Denham Springs.
Multiple projects are in the works in and near the burgeoning Denham Springs Development District around the intersection of Bass Pro Boulevard and South Range Road.
Last month, crews broke ground on a new 15,500-square-foot shopping center across from Rotolo’s Pizzeria. Building owner Ricky Heroman said it will house a Heroman’s Florist shop, Firehouse Subs and Red Wing Shoes, among others, and should open in the spring.
The I-12 corridor is drawing new development throughout the parish. Juban Crossing is located just one exit to the east, and its first store held a grand opening earlier in October.

U.S. rig count
up 9 to 1,927
HOUSTON (AP) — Oilfield services company Baker Hughes Inc. says the number of rigs exploring for oil and natural gas in the U.S. rose by nine last week to 1,927.
The Houston firm said Friday in its weekly report that 1,595 rigs were exploring for oil and 332 for gas. A year ago there were 1,738 active rigs.
Of the major oil- and gas-producing states, Texas gained eight rigs, New Mexico increased five, West Virginia was up three, while Arkansas, California and Ohio gained two apiece. Alaska was up one.
Kansas declined by four, Pennsylvania was down three, Wyoming lost two and Colorado, Louisiana, North Dakota and Utah decreased by one each.
Oklahoma was unchanged.
The U.S. rig count peaked at 4,530 in 1981 and bottomed at 488 in 1999.

La. bank to acquire more Fla. locations
LAFAYETTE (AP) — IberiaBank Corp., a Lafayette, Louisiana-based company, will acquire Old Florida Bancshares and its 14 locations in a stock deal valued at $259 million.
Old Florida, based in Orlando, Florida, had total assets of $1.4 billion and deposits of $1.2 billion as of Sept. 30. The company had 229 employees and reported net income of $3.1 million for the quarter ending Sept. 30. Twelve of its locations are in the Orlando area and two are in Citrus County, about 70 miles north of Tampa.
IberiaBank expects an internal rate of return of more than 20 percent on the acquisition.
IberiaBank President and Chief Executive Officer Daryl G. Byrd said the Orlando area’s “deep commercial and industrial client base” are particularly attractive.

Investar reports increase in profits
BATON ROUGE (AP) — Baton Rouge-based Investar Holding Corp., the parent company of Investar Bank, reported its third-quarter profit rose to $1.4 million, or 20 cents per share, compared to $700,000, or 16 cents per share, a year ago.
Investar Holding Corporation President and Chief Executive Officer John D’Angelo said the 114 percent increase in net income as one of the highlights of the quarter.
Other financial highlights included increasing:
—Total assets to $784.6 million at Sept. 30, an increase of $149.7 million, or 23.6 percent, since the beginning of the year.
—Gross loans $125.6 million, or 24.7 percent, to $634.7 million, since Dec. 31.
—Commercial and industrial loans $11.6 million, or 35.6 percent, from Dec. 31.
The company also opened its 11th branch in Baton Rouge on Aug. 1.

Home Bancorp sees rise in earnings
LAFAYETTE (AP) — Lafayette-based Home Bancorp Inc. saw its third-quarter earnings rise to $2.9 million, or 41 cents per share, compared to $2.5 million, or 37 cents per share, a year ago.
Loans totaled $907.4 million as of Sept. 30, up 33 percent from Sept. 30, 2013. The increase in loans was primarily the result of Home’s acquisition of Britton & Koontz Capital Corp. Britton & Koontz added $298.7 million in assets, including $162.2 million in loans.
Home Bancorp’s loan portfolio saw a $4.2 million drop in commercial real estate lending, a $1.2 million decrease in commercial and industrial loans, and a $925,000 dip in home-equity loans. However, those drops were largely offset by increases in mortgages, up $3.9 million; consumer loans, up $1.3 million; and land loans, which rose $695,000.

Youngsville lifts
DR Horton’s construction ban
YOUNGSVILLE (AP) — Youngsville has lifted a city council-imposed ban on construction permits to national homebuilder DR Horton, after a probe showed homes built by the company in the Sugar Ridge subdivision met residential construction codes.
Rick Garner, who runs day-to-day operations for the city of Youngsville, said the permit ban ran from Oct. 17-21. Garner says the city on Oct. 21 resumed issuing permits to DR Horton.
The city council decided to institute a temporary ban on new DR Horton construction at an Oct. 16 meeting after complaints by Sugar Ridge resident Tara Proffitt and others that their new homes’ plumbing leaked and developed mold because of faulty plumbing and subpar piping.

Shipbuilder works on LNG vessels
PASCAGOULA, Miss. (AP) — Shipbuilder VT Halter Marine has started work on the first of two liquefied natural gas-powered container vessels for Crowley Maritime Corp.
VT Halter first announced the $350 million contract last November. The beginning of construction was marked by a steel-cutting ceremony Wednesday.
VT Halter officials say the new vessels are designed to maximize the carriage of 102-inch-wide containers, which offer the most cubic cargo capacity in the trade.
Cargo capacity will be approximately 2,400 TEUs (20-foot-equivalent-units), with additional space for nearly 400 vehicles.
The main propulsion and auxiliary engines will be fueled with environmentally-friendly LNG.
Delivery of the two vessels is scheduled for mid and late 2017.
From The Associated Press.