Business Briefs: Raymond James volunteers, Commerce Park expansion and more

Financial advisors and associates at Raymond James Financial Inc. (NYSE: RJF) volunteered a record number of hours in support of the firm’s annual Raymond James Cares Month in August.

More than 2,500 professionals contributed 7,253 hours to benefit 172 non-profit organizations across the United States and United Kingdom, the company said. The number of volunteer hours reflects an 18 percent increase from 2017, and the number of participants increased by more than 16 percent.

Since the inception of Raymond James Cares Month in 2012, advisors and associates have volunteered more than 36,800 hours, the company said.

Groundbreaking

Mayor Rick Kriseman and City Administrator and Deputy Mayor Kanika Tomalin were among those turning the first ceremonial shovels for a Sunday groundbreaking for Euro Cycles of Tampa Bay. The motorcycle sales and repair company is expanding in Commerce Park, a south St. Pete development along the 22^nd Street corridor. The City Council initially approved a development agreement with the company in 2016.

Ground has been broken at 22nd Street South’s Commerce Park. Euro Cycles of Tampa Bay + job opportunities coming soon! #SunShinesHere pic.twitter.com/P7n2SyPtyE

— Rick Kriseman (@Kriseman) October 28, 2018

Welbilt CEO

William Johnson, president and CEO, Welbilt

Welbilt Inc., a commercial food equipment manufacturer in New Port Richey, has named William Johnson as its new president and CEO.

Johnson previously was CEO at Chart industry (NASDAQ: GTLS), an engineered equipment manufacturer, and before that he held various senior level positions at Dover Corporation (NYSE:DOV), a manufacturer of industrial product

Hubertus Muhlhauser resigned as CEO of Welbilt (NYSE: WBT) in August to CEO at CNH Industrial N.V. (NYSE: CNHI).

Johnson will get a base salary of $820,000 and be eligible for short-term and long-term incentives, Welbilt said in a regulatory filing.

He’s expected to assume day-to-day leadership of the company next week, and he joined the board of directors today.

Bloomin’ sales

Bloomin’ Brands investment in the customer experience are working, says Liz Smith, chairman and CEO.

Outback Steakhouse

She pointed to a 2.9 percent increase in comparable U.S. restaurant sales in the third quarter of 2018, with the gains led by Outback Steakhouse, where sales were up 4.6 percent.

Bloomin’ (NASDAQ: BLMN), the Tampa-based restaurant company whose brands are Outback, Bonefish Grill, Carrabba’s Italian Grill and Fleming’s Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar, posted $965 million in total sales for the 13 weeks ended Sept. 30, up 1 percent from the same quarter last year. Net income dropped for the just-ended quarter to $4.1 million, or four cents a share, down from $5.6 million, or six cents a share, a year ago.

The company also increased its guidance for earnings per share in 2018.

The revenue gains come one week after Barington Capital Group, an activist investor, called on Bloomin’ to spin off or sell three of its restaurant brands and leave Outback to operate independently. Barington cited underperformance by the company.

Home sales

Nearly one of every 20 foreign buyers who bought residential property in the United States in the past year have purchased property in Florida.

Additionally, nine percent of those foreign buyers bought property in the Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater metro area, a new report from Florida Realtors said.

International sales accounted for $22.9 billion from August 2017 through July 2018, down five percent from $24.2 billion in the same period a year earlier. The state’s rising property values coupled with a lack of for-sale inventory impacted the slower pace of international residential real estate activity, according to the report.