BUSINESS DIGEST |

Purple Cat to move

YOUNGSTOWN

The Youngstown/Warren Regional Chamber will have a ribbon-cutting at Golden String/Purple Cat Radio Station at 12 S. Phelps St. at noon Thursday.

The Purple Cat is moving to a new site downtown. The organization offers a day program for adults with disabilities in Mahoning County and western Pennsylvania, as well as Golden String Radio, the first Internet radio station in the Valley run by adults with disabilities.

Home Savings teams with Lakeview tennis

CORTLAND

Home Savings recently donated $5,000 to Lakeview Local Schools. The school district and the city of Cortland are working to refurbish/replace the tennis courts at Willow Park because the school district uses the courts for its tennis teams.

Workers’ comp rebate

COLUMBUS

Gov. John R. Kasich and the top executive for the Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation on Tuesday proposed giving Ohio employers $1.5 billion in premium rebates this summer, expanding workers’ comp savings for employers to $8 billion since 2011.

The rebate, BWC’s largest in 20 years, will be proposed to BWC’s board of directors today, and voted on at the board’s May 24 meeting. If approved, rebate checks would likely be mailed in July and August.

FNB earnings

PITTSBURGH

F.N.B. Corp. reported earnings for the first quarter of 2018 with net income available to common stockholders of $84.8 million. Comparatively, first quarter of 2017 net income available to common stockholders totaled $21 million.

New homes sales up

WASHINGTON

Sales of new U.S. homes jumped 4 percent in March, propelled by a surge (28.3 percent) of buying in the West.

New-home purchases rose slightly in the South, fell in the Midwest and plunged in the Northeast.

The Commerce Department said Tuesday sales last month were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 694,000. The two prior months had sales revised upward with the annual rate being 667,000 in February and 644,000 in January. For the first three months of 2018, sales are running 10.3 percent higher than a year ago.

Buyers are snapping up newly built houses as the economic outlook continues to improve. Gains have yet to be derailed by climbing 30-year mortgage rates. Also, the solid sales growth for new homes shows the lack of existing homes for purchase. Listings for existing homes sank to the lowest levels on record for March, the National Association of Realtors reported on Monday.

Audi recalls

DETROIT

Audi is recalling about 1.2 million cars and SUVs worldwide because the electric coolant pumps can overheat and possibly cause a fire. The recall covers the 2013 to 2016 A4, the 2013 to 2017 A5, the 2012 to 2015 A6, and the Q5 SUV from 2013 to 2017. All have 2-Liter turbocharged engines.

The Volkswagen luxury brand says in U.S. government documents the pumps can become blocked with cooling system debris, or moisture in the pump can cause an electrical short. An Audi spokesman in the U.S. said there have been reports of fires but he had no details.

Dealers will replace the pumps at no cost. The parts won’t be ready until November, but dealers will install a new version of the current pump until the redesigned ones are available.

Audi recalled the same vehicles last year for a software update, but the t pump problems continued.

Audi will send out recall letters on or before June 11.

Staff/wire reports