Business briefs for Aug. 12

Sales rep says he’s
retiring from Aqueos
Aqueos Corp., a provider of subsea services to the Gulf of Mexico and Pacific Coast, has announced the retirement of Merle “Duke” Miller from his position as sales representative.
After 21 years in the United States Navy, Duke transitioned into the offshore oil and gas industry, where he was recruited by Santa Fe Underwater Services as their worldwide operations manager. From there, he worked in the marine and diving industry with an emphasis in International markets for 34 years. Duke finishes his career after being employed with Aqueos for the past 8 years.
Ted Roche, president and CEO, said, “In the eight years Duke has been a part of the Aqueos team, he has been a key player in the success of our company. We are extremely grateful for his innumerable contributions to the company and his distinguished tenure over the last eight years.”
“I’ve been privileged to be a part of the team at Aqueos. It’s tough to say goodbye to the Aqueos family, but there is a time and season for everything,” said Miller.
Jason Brink, project manager-special projects, will be filling the vacancy left by Duke.

Isle of Capri will
close Miss. casino
NATCHEZ, Miss. — Isle of Capri Casinos will close its casino in Natchez, one of the oldest gambling houses in Mississippi.
St. Louis-based Isle of Capri has owned the Natchez property, a dockside casino with 520 slot machines and six table games, since 2000.
“We are proud of all that we have accomplished together and we thank our team members for their dedication and hard work in the many years we have operated in Natchez,” said Virginia McDowell, the Isle of Capri’s president and chief executive officer, said in a news release Tuesday.
The Isle of Capri said it will sell its Natchez hotel and certain related non-gambling assets to Casino Holding Investment Partners, the parent company of Magnolia Bluffs Casino, for $11.5 million.

Alexandria airport
acquires new funding
ALEXANDRIA — To help make his case to members of the state’s congressional delegation for improvements at Alexandria International Airport, England Authority Executive Director Jon Grafton brought a bag of aging concrete to show them.
The concrete from the north ramp is more than 70 years old, and England Authority Chairman Scott Linzay said some officials thought it looked more like “hard candy” than concrete.
The delegation helped get the Federal Aviation Administration to approve the airport for the Military Airport Program, which provides federal funding to airports with joint military-civilian use.
The Alexandria airport is expected to get about $9 million to reconstruct the airport’s north ramp.
McDermott reports
$1.05B in revenue
McDermott International, Inc. (NYSE: MDR) has announced financial and operational results for the quarter ended June 30. The company reported second quarter 2015 net income of $11.5 million, or 4 cents per fully diluted share compared to a net loss of $7.4 million, or 3 cents per diluted share, in the prior-year quarter.
Net of restructuring charges and one-time losses on the impairment and disposal of assets, the second quarter income would have been increased by $24.1 million or 8 cents per fully diluted share.
The company reported second quarter 2015 revenues of $1.05 billion, an increase of $570.5 million, compared to revenues of $476.1 million for the prior-year second quarter. Revenues for the second quarter of 2015 were positively impacted by strong revenue recognition at the INPEX Ichthys project, Brunei Shell Petroleum project and three Middle East projects.
Operating income for the second quarter 2015 was positively impacted by revenue improvements, a project close out in Brazil and marine utilization.

La. gasoline keeps
going down in price
Average retail gasoline prices in Louisiana have fallen 4.5 cents per gallon in the past week, averaging $2.33/g yesterday, according to GasBuddy’s daily survey of 2,436 gas outlets in Louisiana. This compares with the national average that has fallen 5.4 cents per gallon in the last week to $2.60 per gallon, according to gasoline price website GasBuddy.com.
Including the change in gas prices in Louisiana during the past week, prices yesterday were 92.1 cents per gallon lower than the same day one year ago and are 19.9 cents per gallon lower than a month ago.

Leary wins award at
Terrebonne General Medical Center’s honors Penny Leary as the August Employee of the Month. Leary is a social service worker in the case management department and assists in social, emotional, and physical concerns with patients and families.
Leary is described by her coworkers as a ray of sunshine, making the department a happier place to work. She loves to decorate the office for holidays and bring homemade treats to her coworkers. She also is known to go above and beyond for her patients. Leary often walks to physician offices to get signatures and prescriptions to help with patient discharge. She will often call patients at home to check in on them and provide them with her number if there are ever any problems. She is always willing to put in extra time to assist patients, physicians, and team members.
“Acknowledgement of where, when, how, and what you do is an incredible feeling,” said Leary. “It has been an enlightening journey; each and every step has been encountered with encouragement and assistance from all within the TGMC home.”
––Staff and Wire