Monthly Archives: April 2012

By Steven Church and David Voreacos - Thu Apr 19 20:37:54 GMT 2012

Liberty Harbor North Inc., a developer of waterfront property opposite Manhattan in Jersey City, New Jersey, filed for bankruptcy to resolve a $21 million court judgment related to the urban-renewal project.

Company President Peter Mocco, a former mayor of neighboring North Bergen, put three companies affiliated with the Liberty Harbor community into bankruptcy to settle a legal dispute with a former landowner.

We need the quick definitive action of the bankruptcy court to permit me to enter into a settlement, Mocco said today in an interview.

Liberty Harbor North controls land worth $350 million, the company said in court papers filed April 17 in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Newark. The project itself is not in bankruptcy and has adequate cash flow, Mocco said.

The development is an example of new urbanism, which relies less on cars and more on public transportation in creating a sense of community, Bob Antonicello, executive director of the Jersey City Redevelopment Agency, said in a telephone interview.

It is monitored by more than 500 security cameras, served by two light-rail stations, and sits within walking distance of PATH trains run by the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey, Mocco said.

People have really looked at this and said this could be a striking example of how to redevelop cities, Antonicello said.

The bankruptcy filing is very disappointing, he said.

When the developer files a bankruptcy and thinks it wont impact the future development, thats ludicrous, he said. At the end of the day, bankruptcies have a stigma. This will be a stigma on what has the potential for being a jewel on the Hudson. This cold, calculating business move could have a very damaging effect on the city.

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Jersey City Developer Liberty Harbor North Files for Bankruptcy

HOUSTON, April 19, 2012 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Liberty Energy Corp. (OTCBB:LBYE.OB - News) ("Liberty" or "the Company") announces executing a Letter of Intent to acquire new acreage in Texas.

The Company is pleased to announce that it has signed a memorandum of understanding to acquire an estimated 1,040 acres in Bastrop, Caldwell and Eastland Counties. The Company intends to conduct further geological and geophysical surveys to complete the plan of development for this project.

"We are extremely excited to announce this letter of intent and intend on providing further information on geological and geophysical work to be carried out once we have completed our due diligence process. These new prospects strengthen our commitment to secure Texan assets and ties in with our growth program of continued investment in onshore projects that grow shareholder value," Commented Ian Spowart, CEO of Liberty Energy Corp.

Bastrop County

Bastrop County is located in South Texas. The majority of production in Bastrop is attributed to the Austin Chalk and Navarro formations.1 The county presently houses over 1,700 wells and over 170 operators including; Texas Vanguard Oil Company, Chalker Operating Inc. and Petro-Gas Inc.2 The Eagle Ford Shale formation is in the oil maturity window and is present in Bastrop County. The play is 50 miles wide and an average of 250 feet thick at a depth between 4,000 and 12,000 feet. The oil reserves are estimated at 3 billion barrels with potential output of 420,000 barrels a day.1 Major producers in the county include Anadarko, Exxon-XTO and PetroHawk. Liberty will, under the terms of the LOI, acquire five leases comprising approximately 630 highly prospective acres within the county.

Caldwell County

There are four main pay zones within Caldwell County, the Sepertine, Dale Lime, Austin Chalk and Edwards. There are currently 385 operators (including Eagle Ford Oil Co., Inc., Luling O&G LLC and Texas Petroleum Investment Co.) and nearly 9,000 wells in Caldwell County.2From March 2010 to March 2011 the county produced over 1 million barrels.4 Liberty will, under the terms of the LOI, acquire two leases comprising approximately 300 greatly prospective acres within the county.

Eastland County

In addition to having the Marble Falls, Duffer and Mississippian formations Eastland County is the westernmost extension of the Barnett Shale play and can be considered as part of the active Barnett Shale play area.5 The Bend Arch has had a significant effect on the Barnett Shale with regard to its burial history and geo-thermal makeup. The Barnett is the source rock for the hydrocarbons produced from many of the shallower zones over the Bend Arch such as the Marble Falls and Duffer. There are currently 893 operators (including North Ridge Corporation, Sun Expl. & Prod. Co.-Abilene and B & B Oil, Inc.) and over 10,900 wells in Eastland County.2 Using a geology-based assessment methodology, the U.S. Geological Survey estimated a mean of 26.7 trillion cubic feet (TCF) of undiscovered natural gas, a mean of 98.5 million barrels of undiscovered oil, and a mean of 1.1 billion barrels of undiscovered natural gas liquids in the Bend Arch-Fort Worth Basin Province.6 Liberty will, under the terms of the LOI, acquire one lease comprising approximately 110 considerably prospective acres within the county.

ABOUT LIBERTY: Liberty Energy Corp (OTCBB:LBYE.OB - News) is an Independent Oil and Gas Exploration and Production Company dedicated to the sourcing and production of fuel supplies in the United States and Europe. Headquartered in Houston, Texas, the company has leases and royalties in both Texas and Bulgaria, covering several wells with extensive potential for future development. In Texas, Liberty owns twelve leases based around numerous geological pay zones. In North-West Bulgaria, Liberty has royalty rights to a 1,000,000+ acre natural gas property (the A-Lovech exploration block), an area of high quality, low-sulphur natural gas condensate. Through this combined international reach and domestic focus, Liberty Energy is committed to the development of U.S. fuel reserves while seeking out further opportunities for the global energy markets.

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Liberty Energy Announces Execution of Letter of Intent for Texas Leases

Liberty Property Trust ( LRY ), a real estate investment trust (REIT), is scheduled to report its fiscal 2012 first quarter earnings on April 24, 2012. The current Zacks Consensus Estimate for the first quarter is pegged at 63 cents per share, representing a year-over-year decline of about 1.69%.

Fourth Quarter Recap

Liberty Property reported fourth quarter 2011 FFO (funds from operations) of 63 cents per share compared with 65 cents in the year-earlier quarter. Funds from operations, a widely used metric to gauge the performance of REITs, is obtained after adding depreciation and amortization and other non-cash expenses to net income. Reported FFO were in line with the Zacks Consensus Estimate.

For full-year 2011, Liberty Property reported FFO of $2.61 per share compared with $2.66 in the previous year

Total revenues for fourth quarter 2011 were $169.8 million compared with $164.5 million in the year-ago quarter. Total revenue in the reported quarter fell short of the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $175 million. Total revenues for fiscal 2011 were $667.6 million compared with $657.0 million in 2010.

Agreement of Analysts

Over the last 7 days, one analyst out of 12 increased the earnings estimate for the first quarter while none revised downward for the first quarter or fiscal 2012. In the last 30 days, one out of 12 analysts increased the earnings estimates for the first quarter and one out of 13 analysts increased the earnings estimates for fiscal 2012 while none revised it downward for first quarter as well as for fiscal 2012.

Magnitude of Estimate Revisions

Taking into effect the analysts' earnings revision, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for the first quarter and fiscal 2012 remained constant over the last 7 days and 30 days at 63 cents and $2.54, respectively. However, Liberty Property expects FFO in the range of $2.45 - $2.60 per share in fiscal 2012.

Our Recommendation

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Earnings Preview: Liberty Property - Analyst Blog

BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Liberty Mutual Insurances Group Benefits operation has become the first group disability and life carrier to introduce mobile applications that make it easier for employees to manage their benefits using any mobile device.

The Boston-based group benefits carrier introduced MyLibertyMobilesm to improve the benefits management experience for customers. Intermittent leave time reporting is the first MyLibertyMobile application, allowing employees to enter time away from work during approved leaves with a web-enabled mobile device. Additional applications will be released in coming months. All MyLibertyMobile applications will be available for qualified Group Benefits customers to provide to their employees.

In announcing MyLibertyMobile, Jean Scarrow, Chief Operating Officer, Liberty Mutual Group Benefits noted, We have made a strategic commitment and a substantial investment to deliver technology tools that address employers needs in todays mobile environment. The mobile applications were building make it easier for employees to manage their benefits, while expanding ways for employers to manage absence and return to work. The ultimate goal is to deliver convenience and flexibility to employers and employees.

All information transmitted through mobile devices is seamlessly integrated into Liberty Mutual Group Benefits tracking and reporting tools for employers.

More information on MyLibertyMobile and Group Benefits other mobile applications can be accessed at LibertyMutualGroup.com/Mobile.

About Liberty Mutual Insurance

"Helping people live safer, more secure lives" since 1912, Boston-based Liberty Mutual Insurance is a diversified global insurer and the third largest property and casualty insurer in the U.S. based on A.M. Best Company's report of 2010 net written premium.

Liberty Mutual Insurance also ranks 82nd on the Fortune 100 list of largest corporations in the U.S. based on 2010 revenue. As of December 31, 2011, Liberty Mutual Insurance had $117.1 billion in consolidated assets, $99.3 billion in consolidated liabilities, and $34.7 billion in annual consolidated revenue.

Liberty Mutual Insurance offers a wide range of insurance products and services, including personal automobile, homeowners, workers compensation, property, commercial automobile, general liability, global specialty, group disability, reinsurance and surety. Liberty Mutual Insurance (www.libertymutualinsurance.com) employs over 45,000 people in more than 900 offices throughout the world.

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Liberty Mutual First Group Benefits Carrier to Introduce Mobile Applications to Manage Employee Absence

Sirius XM Radio Inc. delivered a counterpunch Friday to Liberty Media's hostile takeover attempt in a brief it filed with federal regulators.

Liberty Media in March threw the first punch byasking the U.S.Federal Communications Commission togive it control overSiriusXM's operating licenses. Liberty argued that its 40% stake in SiriusXM gave it "de facto" control over the satellite radio company. It refined its argument further last Thursday, arguing that its stake, and control over five of the 13 seats on the Siriusboard is "more than sufficient to determine the outcome of matters submitted to a vote of shareholders."

SiriusXM took umbrage over the characterization. In a brief filed with the FCC, SiriusXM scoffed at Liberty's argument that "40 is the new 50."

"There is no support for the remarkable proposition that a... 40% minority interest, standing alone, is sufficient to bestow control of a public company," wrote SiriusXM's attorneys, who urged the agency's commissioners to dismiss Liberty's request.

Calls to the FCC were not returned, and Liberty Media's spokeswoman did not respond to requests for comment.

Eddy Hartenstein, publisher of the Los Angeles Times, is a non-executive chairman of the SiriusXM board.

The tussle for control over SiriusXM, whichtopped $3 billion in revenue in 2011, stems from a Faustian bargain its chief executive, Mel Karmazin, made in 2009to accept a $530-million loan fromLiberty Media's chairman, John Malone. The money, which has since been repaid, saved SiriusXM from having to file for bankruptcy protection.

The deal also gave Liberty Media a 40% stake in Sirius and five seats on the company's board. But it handcuffed Malone from making further moves to take over SiriusXM at least until thisMarch. When those restrictions expired,Liberty Media made its first moveby petitioningthe FCC for a transfer of SiriusXM's operating licenses.

For now, that's the least expensive path to gaining control of SiriusXM. But Liberty has other options, which it outlined in its petition last week to the FCC. Those include accumulating enough shares of SiriusXM to boost its stake above 50%and staging a boardroom coup bycalling "a meeting of Sirius stockholders" and putting the matter to a vote. But doing so could trigger a big tax bill for Liberty Media if the transaction is deemed to be an acquisition.

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SiriusXM snubs Liberty Media's takeover attempt -- again

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Liberty Tax Service continued its growth in key areas during the just-completed tax season, and successfully addressed major industry changes in its operations. Throughout this decade, Liberty Tax Service has demonstrated significant gains in an industry formerly dominated by tax giant H&R Block (NYSE:HRB - News) and, during the 21st century, Liberty has grown by more tax returns than both Jackson Hewitt (JHTXQ.PK) and H&R Block combined.

Liberty Tax Service prepared 7.9% more returns through April 18, 2012, compared to the same time period in 2011. Systemwide revenues increased 4.7% over the same periods. In 2012, significant IRS delays in return processing posed customer service challenges for the tax preparation industry. The reduced importance of refund anticipation loans and ability to offer financial products also were issues for the major tax players. However, the Company continued to offer competitive choices, allowing its growing customer base to choose between professional services in brick-and-mortar locations, and do-it-yourself online tax preparation with its eSmart Tax product at http://www.esmarttax.com.

In addition, this year the IRS officially started its tax preparer oversight programs, and a further requirement that preparers pass a competency test is on the horizon. As noted by Liberty Tax Service Founder and CEO, John Hewitt, Liberty has been well-prepared for these changes:

Each tax season is unique for its challenges. Our companys success in triumphing over adversity in some tough years demonstrates our ability to continue to climb to the pinnacle of this industry. With an internal tax preparer certification process in place for 5 years, we are embracing the IRS requirements and applaud the positive effect these changes are having. Our ability to strategize, prepare and respond quickly is a true to the ability of our entire Liberty team, Hewitt reflected.

Aggressive marketing coupled with a strong commitment to customer service have been key factors in building a successful brand in fourteen years. Since 1997, the Company has grown from 119 offices located in Canada, to over 4,200 offices throughout the U.S. and Canada today.

About Liberty Tax Service

Liberty Tax Service is the fastest-growing retail tax preparation company in the industrys history. Founded in 1997 by CEO John T. Hewitt, a pioneer in the tax industry, Liberty Tax Service has prepared over 10,000,000 individual income tax returns. With 43 years of tax industry experience, Hewitt stands as the most experienced CEO in the tax preparation business, having also founded Jackson Hewitt Tax Service. Liberty Tax Service is the only tax franchise on the recently released Forbes Top 20 Franchises for the Buck.

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Liberty Tax’s Preliminary Tax Season Results Show a Competitive Industry Edge