The Daily Record News Summary: July 17, 2008

BCSB Bancorp's profit falls

BCSB Bancorp Inc., the holding company for Baltimore County Savings Bank FSB, reported net income during its fiscal third quarter ended June 30 of $285,000, or 9 cents per diluted share, compared to net income of $599,000, or 19 cents per diluted share, for the corresponding period in 2007. The bank said financial results for the 2007 quarter included a $299,000 gain on the sale of certain loans in connection with a balance sheet restructuring initiative completed in the 2007 fiscal year. Total assets dropped to $598.2 million as of June 30, 2008, versus $642.4 million as of Sept. 30, 2007.

Cristal Global gets bigger

Cristal Global, the world's second-largest producer of titanium dioxide, said its Hunt Valley-based subsidiary, Cristal US Inc., and the Titanium Company of America LLC, have signed a deal for Cristal US to purchase TICOA's interest in International Titanium Powder LLC, a private, Illinois-based limited liability company specializing in the production of high-purity titanium and titanium alloy powders. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Cristal Global, which is owned by a Saudi Arabian company, operates eight manufacturing plants in six countries, including a titanium dioxide plant in Hawkins Point in Baltimore. Titanium dioxide is a white pigment that is widely used in a variety of products, from paint to candy.

Missile companies team up

Three of America's largest defense contractors, including Bethesda-based Lockheed Martin Corp., the world's biggest defense company by sales, said they will team up to develop missiles able to attack a wider range of targets. The companies -- Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman Corp. and Alliant Techsystems Inc. -- are evaluating whether a class of multi-role weapons might replace missiles used by the U.S. military that are limited to either air or ground targets. The companies announced the arrangement at the Farnborough International Air Show outside London. Los Angeles- based Northrop Grumman's Electronics Systems sector is located in Linthicum, and Alliant Techsystems, which is also known as ATK and is based in Edina, Minn., has a rocket motor plant in Elkton and another unit in Beltsville.

Laureate Education gets bigger

Laureate Education Inc., of Baltimore, a provider of higher education services, said it has acquired NewSchool of Architecture and Design, based in San Diego, and has finalized its acquisition of Kendall College, based in Chicago. NewSchool, founded in 1980, has more than 440 students and offers both a bachelor's and a master's degree in architecture. Kendall College, with approximately 1,500 students, specializes in culinary education and hospitality training, and also offers degrees in business and early childhood education. Financial terms of the transactions were not disclosed.

State House costs mount

The state Board of Public Works has approved $1.2 million to cover additional costs for the renovation of the State House. That's on top of the initial estimated costs of about $8.3 million. Alvin Collins, Secretary of the Maryland Department of General Services, said Wednesday that the project is still on track to be finished by the end of the year. Collins said workers had to change an emergency generator that accounted for nearly half of the additional expense. The 228-year-old State House was closed in April so contractors could do extensive work on the building's heating and cooling piping system.

GXS gets LG's call

GXS Inc., of Gaithersburg, which operates one of the world's largest business-to-business e-commerce services, said LG Electronics, of Seoul, South Korea, a manufacturer of consumer electronics, home appliances and mobile communications devices, selected the GXS Trading Grid to consolidate and centralize its interactions with more than 200 global trading partners. The move is part of a broader LG strategy to reduce complexity in its supply chain operations by centralizing its geographically dispersed enterprise resource planning systems in Europe, the United States, South America and Asia-Pacific at its headquarters in Seoul, and to centralize its B2B e-commerce functions onto a unified global platform.

Snag could delay Detrick lab

The National Academy of Sciences said a safety review of Army plans for a new biodefense laboratory at Fort Detrick could be delayed by congressional foot-dragging. The Frederick County Commissioners were told by an academy official that some congressional members want to postpone budget decisions until after a new president takes office next year. Such a delay could affect funding for the study, which could cost $250,000 to $400,000. Sen. Barbara Mikulski, D-Md., requested the review in April amid citizen complaints that an environmental impact statement for the project doesn't fully address the risk of terrorist attacks, the actions of disgruntled workers and the possibility of water pollution.

Baltimore mulls plastic bag ban