Consumers bank reports income

Consumers bank reports income

minerva

Consumers Bancorp Inc. reported Monday net income of $783,000 for the fourth fiscal quarter of 2014, an increase of $104,000, or 15.3 percent, from the same period last year.

Earnings per share for the fourth fiscal quarter were $0.29, compared with $0.33 for the same period ending June 30, 2013.

For the 12 months that ended June 30, the company’s net income was $2.8 million, an increase of $168,000, or 6.3 percent. Fiscal year-to-date net income per share was $1.05, compared with $1.29 for the same period last year.

Earnings per share declined for the fourth fiscal quarter this year and for the fiscal year-to-date period as a result of the additional 655,668 outstanding shares issued for the rights and public offering that were completed in July 2013.

US agency warns consumers about risks of Bitcoin

WASHINGTON

Federal regulators are warning consumers about the risks of using virtual currencies such as Bitcoin.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau said Monday that it will begin fielding complaints from people who rely on products such as Bitcoin and online exchanges for such currencies.

In issuing an advisory warning, the agency noted that the currencies are not backed by the government, have volatile exchange rates and are targeted by hackers and scammers. And unlike bank accounts, Bitcoin-based deposits are not federally insured.

“Consumers are stepping into the Wild West,” CFPB Director Richard Cordray said in a statement.

Still, Cordray acknowledged that virtual currencies “may have potential benefits,” noting that they facilitate online transactions by making it easier to process payments.

Testimony: Mold at processing plant

ALBANY, Ga.

A Georgia food processor linked to a deadly salmonella outbreak shipped thousands of pounds of peanut products after learning its products were contaminated and cheated on testing, a former plant manager testified Monday.

Samuel Lightsey is a key government witness against his former boss, Peanut Corp. of America owner Stewart Parnell, and two others.

He described documents to jurors that show Peanut Corp. shipped peanuts to companies in Missouri, Illinois and other points after receiving laboratory warnings that product samples had tested positive for salmonella. In other instances, the company cheated on safety testing by switching samples, Lightsey said.

The 2008-09 salmonella outbreak caused one of the largest food recalls in U.S. history. Food-safety investigators found more than 700 people across the country were infected and nine people died — three in Minnesota, two in Ohio, two in Virginia, one in Idaho and one in North Carolina.

Vindicator staff/wire reports