Eleven Pawn Plus shops sold for $34.5 million
Pawn shop owner Craig McCall recently sold his 11 Pawn Plus stores in the Las Vegas Valley to national giant EZ Pawn for $34.5 million, the law firm handling the sale reported.
Terms of the sale not only brought a solid price for McCall’s highly profitable business, but included a five-year contract agreement for McCall to serve as consultant to the buyer, said Mary Drury, head of the transactional department at Marquis & Aurbach, which handled the transaction. Also, he’ll serve as landlord for eight of the locations.
McCall still owns six pawn shops in Arizona and three in Oregon under the name USA Pawn & Jewelry. He’s opening two more stores in Oregon and one more in Arizona.
NEW YORK
Goldman Sachs posts $1.66 billion profit
Goldman Sachs, in another sign that banks may be turning around, beat Wall Street’s earnings expectations as it reported a profit of $1.66 billion for the first three months of this year. The bank also said it planned to raise $5 billion in stock to help it pay back government bailout funds.
The New York-based bank said it earned $3.39 per share, easily surpassing analysts’ forecasts for profit of $1.64 per share. This compares with earnings of $1.47 billion, or $3.23 per share, in the quarter ended Feb. 29 of last year.
Goldman’s total revenue fell 36.2 percent to $11.88 billion from $18.63 billion. Analysts forecast revenue of $7.19 billion.
WASHINGTON
Interest rates decline in Treasury auction
Interest rates on short-term Treasury bills fell Monday.
The Treasury Department auctioned $28 billion in three-month bills at a discount rate of 0.18 percent, down from 0.2 percent last week.
Another $27 billion in six-month bills was auctioned at a discount rate of 0.37 percent, down from 0.4 percent last week.
NEW YORK
Treasury prices climb with debt demand
Treasury prices rose Monday.
The benchmark 10-year Treasury note rose 0.53 points to 99.03. Its yield fell to 2.84 percent from 2.92 percent late Thursday.