Bank reports loss

Bank reports loss

NILES

The Home Federal Savings and Loan Association of Niles reported a second-quarter loss of $79,000, compared with a profit of $80,000 at the same time a year earlier.

Lower interest rates and increases in the provision set aside for loan losses were the primary causes, the bank said in a statement.

Through the first six months of the year, the bank reported a loss of $136,000 versus a profit of $163,000 for the year-ago period.

Facility operating

Kensington

The first phase of M3 Midstream’s Kensington processing facility in Columbiana County is online, said Frank Tsuru, the company’s chief executive officer.

The project first was announced in March 2012. The Utica Shale’s production companies have faced transportation and processing challenges as they continue to extract oil and gas from the formation.

The facility in southwestern Hanover Township includes 63 miles of natural gas and natural-gas liquids gathering lines, a 200 million cubic-feet-per-day cryogenic processing facility and a 45,000 barrel-per-day natural-gas liquids separation, storage and rail facility near Scio in Harrison County. Construction will continue at the facility with the second processing and separation units scheduled to be completed in December.

GDP estimate for 2Q to be released

WASHINGTON

The economy is expected to have grown at a dismal pace in the April-June quarter, weighed down by large tax increases and steep government spending cuts.

But the second quarter should be the low point for the year, economists say. The fiscal drag is expected to fade. At the same time, steady hiring, more business spending and a solid recovery in housing should push growth higher in the second half of the year.

Economists forecast that growth slowed in the April-June quarter to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of just 1 percent, according to a survey by FactSet. That’s below the tepid rate of 1.8 percent in the January-March quarter.

The Commerce Department will release the first estimate of gross domestic product, or GDP, for the second quarter at 8:30 a.m. today.

Most economists say growth already is starting to pick up. And many are predicting annual growth rates of between 2 percent and 3 percent in the third and fourth quarters.

Chrysler growth

DETROIT

Chrysler is having some growing pains.

The country’s third-largest automaker said Tuesday that its sales picked up in the second quarter thanks to strong U.S. demand for trucks and SUVs. But the company cut its target for full-year sales and profit, blaming persistent problems as it adds more shifts and ramps up production of vehicles such as the Ram pickup and the Jeep Cherokee small SUV.

“You need to remember that in 2010 we produced 1 million cars. We’re now at 21/2 times that level,” Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne said in a conference call with analysts and media.

Vindicator staff/wire reports