The marriage of square burgers and roast beef sandwiches is about to end.
Wendy’s/Arby’s Group said Monday that it will sell a majority stake in its struggling Arby’s brand to Roark Capital Group, the Atlanta private equity firm. The move marks the end of a short-lived union between the two fast-food chains, and represents a role reversal. Arby’s started as the suitor in the relationship, and ended up on the chopping block.
In an interview with the Associated Press, Wendy’s/Arby’s Group CEO Roland Smith said that the combination of the two fast-food chains in 2008 had “absolutely not” been a failure.
“I think that at the time we put the two brands together it was the exact right thing to do,” Smith said, “but any business that continues to do well and perform has to be nimble and adapt to what the market is.”
Wendy’s/Arby’s shares rose 19 cents, or 4 percent, to $4.71 in morning trading.
Roark, which already owns Moe’s Southwest Grill, Cinnabon and other restaurants, will pay $130 million in cash for an 81.5 percent stake in Arby’s. It will also assume $190 million worth of Arby’s debt.
Smith said Wendy’s/Arby’s had entertained offers from “quite a number” of bidders, but declined to give details. He said that the company’s decision to keep an 18.5 percent stake in Arby’s should signal its confidence in Arby’s future.
Smith is a veteran of the Arby’s side, having served as CEO of Arby’s Inc. from 1997 to 1999 and again starting in 2006. He has been CEO of the combined Wendy’s and Arby’s since it was formed in September 2008. He said that selling Arby’s was “a little bittersweet.”
Smith will receive a cash bonus of $350,000 when the sale goes through, and general counsel Nils Okeson will receive a bonus of $100,000, according to regulatory filings.
Smith said in the interview that he didn’t think employees would be bothered by the bonuses.
“I would say that the folks in our company understand clearly how compensation works, and it is a very typical (bonus) that would come up any time we go through a change in our organization,” he said. “I quite honestly don’t think anyone’s going to focus on it.”
Wendy’s/Arby’s will change its name after the sale is completed. Spokesman Bob Bertini said the company is considering options, and the new name will include the word “Wendy’s.”
Wendy’s/Arby’s Group will also get a tax benefit worth $80 million related to the sale, which Bertini described as an “offset to taxable income.”
Wendy’s and Arby’s first came together when billionaire investor Nelson Peltz and his Triarc hedge fund, which already owned Arby’s, agreed to scoop up Wendy’s as well. Peltz remains involved as the company’s chairman. Smith said Peltz is “a tough taskmaster, but he’s fair,” and said they have a “very, very solid relationship.”
Atlanta-based Wendy’s/Arby’s Group has struggled since its formation in late 2008, the depths of the recession, losing money for seven of its 10 quarters. In January, the company said it would consider selling Arby’s in order to focus on Wendy’s, which it hopes to expand by launching breakfast in more locations and by opening more restaurants overseas.
Wendy’s has about twice as many restaurants _ 6,500 to Arby’s 3,600 _ and represents about 70 percent of the company’s revenue. However, in the first quarter, Arby’s seemed like the stronger player by some measures. Its revenue rose by 5 percent, while Wendy’s revenue fell less than 1 percent, though some of Arby’s performance was likely due to sale prices.
The sale is expected to close in the third quarter, which starts in July. Roark managing partner Neal Aronson said in a statement that Roark looks forward to helping Arby’s “great brand achieve its full potential.”
Markets in Asia were mostly higher Monday, as quake-devastated Japan began turning its attention to reconstruction.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 index was up 0.3 percent to 9,710.11, with shares rising of companies expected to play a major role in the country’s reconstruction following the devastating March 11 earthquake.
Japan’s government last Friday proposed a special $50 billion (4 trillion yen) budget to help finance reconstruction efforts and plans to build 100,000 temporary homes for survivors of the earthquake and tsunami, which all but destroyed the country’s northeastern coast and killed 27,000 people.
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. and Nishimatsu Construction Co. Inc. both rose 1.6 percent. Komatsu Ltd., one of the world’s leading equipment makers, was 0.7 percent higher. Kobe Steel Ltd. was up 0.5 percent.
South Korea’s Kospi rose 0.1 percent to 2,200.84, with airline shares like Korean Air Lines Co. Ltd. making big gains. Korean Air was up 3.7 percent, and Asiana Airline Inc. jumped 4 percent.
Mainland China’s Shanghai Composite Index slid 1.1 percent to 2,976.45. Benchmark indexes in Singapore and Indonesia were also lower cash advance now.
Some investors stayed on the sidelines in anticipation of several key events later this week, including earnings reports of some major Japanese companies and the Federal Reserve meeting on April 26-27.
Benchmark crude for June delivery rose 66 cents to $112.95.
The dollar strengthened against the yen to 82.38 in Asia on Monday from 81.90 late Friday in New York.
The euro slipped to $1.4544 from $1.4550. It had risen to a 16-month high of $1.4648 during Thursday’s trading.
Investors have turned away from the dollar this year because they expect the Federal Reserve to keep U.S. interest rates near zero even as other central banks around the world raise interest rates to counteract rising food and energy prices. Higher rates tend to support a currency’s value.
Stock, bond and commodities markets were closed in the U.S. and many markets are also shut in Europe and Asia on Good Friday. Markets in Australia, New Zealand and Hong Kong remained closed Monday.
A powerful blast at a factory making explosives and weapons in southern Yemen killed at least 78 people on Monday after the facility was briefly taken over by Islamic militants and then looted by residents of the area, officials said.
Many women and children from the surrounding villages were killed in the explosion, which left bodies blackened and burned, said medical and security officials in Abyan province. The blast appeared to be accidental, and one factory worker said it was caused by a looter who dropped a lit cigarette that ignited a heap of gunpowder.
The tragedy was rooted in Yemen’s rapidly deteriorating security under a surge of unprecedented protests that threatens to topple the autocratic president who has ruled the impoverished and divided nation for 32 years.
On Sunday, militants took over the factory and the nearby the town of Jaar, taking advantage of the growing lawlessness in a part of Yemen that was already largely beyond the government’s reach. Like several other parts of Yemen, police and security forces there had melted away in the face of the political unrest.
The militants are adherents of the ultraconservative Islamic movement known as Salafism. The allegiance of their particular group is bought by Yemen’s government, while other Salafis agitate for the its overthrow and the establishment of Islamic rule. Nonetheless, seeing an opening to seize weaponry, the group took what they wanted and left.
They made off with two armored cars, a tank, several pickup trucks mounted with machine guns and ammunition, said 28-year-old factory worker Hakim Mohammed.
Later, dozens of locals entered the facility and looted whatever they could find, including cables, doors and vehicle fuel, Mohammed said.
The factory makes munitions, Kalashnikov assault rifles and explosives used in road construction in the mountainous area.
Some of the looters emptied large barrels of gunpowder because they wanted to use the containers for storing water, Mohammed said. A cigarette ignited what he said were massive piles of the explosive.
Among the wounded, 27 people were in critical condition, said officials at al-Razi hospital in Jaar. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to journalists.
Chinese specialists working at the factory left several days ago because of the political turmoil and the absence of security in the area, said resident Walid Mohammed Muqbil.
Another resident, Seif Mohammed, said the blast could be heard 10 miles (15 kilometers) from the factory.
Yemen has been hit by weeks of unrest and unraveling security as protesters throughout the country demand the president’s ouster and the introduction of political freedoms. A government crackdown has killed 92 protesters, according to the Shiqayiq Forum for Human Rights.
As the situation has escalated, police and security forces have withdrawn from some towns and cities in Yemen, chased out by protesters in some cases.
The area around the weapons factory was one of the places where units abandoned their posts.
The deputy governor of Abyan province, Saleh al-Samty, blamed the national government for the tragedy, saying it was a result of the lack of order resulting from the security pullback.
Sales at retailers rose less than forecast in January, showing it will be difficult for American consumers to sustain last quarter’s pickup in spending without bigger gains in employment.
Purchases increased 0.3 percent, the smallest gain since a drop in June, according to Commerce Department figures today in Washington. Other reports showed manufacturing in the New York area accelerated and confidence among home builders stagnated.
The sales data also indicated winter snowstorms may have played a role in the slowdown as Americans stayed away from restaurants and home-improvement stores. While Gap Inc. and Macy’s Inc. were among retailers topping analysts’ estimates as promotions lured post-holiday shoppers, rising food and gasoline prices may have caused households to cut back on non-essentials.
“There is some momentum in consumer spending, but it’s not particularly robust,” said Kevin Logan, chief U.S. economist at HSBC Securities USA Inc. in New York, who correctly forecast the gain. “Things are recovering, but they’re not really healthy,” he said, and in addition, “the severe weather last month curtailed all kinds of outdoor activity.”
The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index retreated from a 32-month high after the reports, falling 0.4 percent to 1,327.35 at 11:54 a.m. in New York. The S&P Supercomposite Retailing Index decreased 0.1 percent.
Sales were projected to increase 0.5 percent based on the median forecast of 79 economists in the Bloomberg News survey. Estimates ranged from a gain of 1.1 percent to a drop of 0.5 percent. The December increase in sales was revised down to 0.5 percent from the 0.6 percent previously estimated.
Fed View
Federal Reserve policy makers are among those saying bigger gains in employment are needed to ensure American consumers sustain spending. While unemployment fell to 9 percent in January, from 9.4 percent in December, it has been 9 percent or higher since May 2009, the longest period of elevated joblessness since monthly records began in 1948.
Fed Chairman Ben S. Bernanke and fellow policy makers are awaiting further proof of a durable pickup in the labor market that will lift growth. That’s one reason why they are pressing ahead with a second round of monetary stimulus worth $600 billion.
Manufacturing in the region covered by the Fed Bank of New York expanded this month at the fastest pace since June, another report showed. The bank’s general economic index rose to 15.4 from 11.9 in January. Readings greater than zero signal growth in the so-called Empire State Index, which covers New York, northern New Jersey, and southern Connecticut.
Builder Pessimism
The National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo said its sentiment index registered a reading of 16 in February for the fourth consecutive month, in line with the median forecast of economists surveyed by Bloomberg. Readings below 50 mean more respondents said conditions were poor.
Also today, figures from the Labor Department showed import prices climbed 1.5 percent in January, propelled by higher costs for commodities like food and fuel.
Eight of 13 major retail categories showed an increase in demand last month, led by auto dealers, grocery stores and service stations, according to the Commerce Department’s figures. Filling station sales advanced 1.4 percent.
The data, which aren’t adjusted for inflation, may have been boosted by rising gasoline prices. Regular fuel in January reached an average $3.10 a gallon, or 11 cents more than December, according to AAA, the nation’s biggest motoring organization.
Auto Sales
Sales climbed 0.5 percent at automobile dealers, consistent with industry figures that showed car purchases climbed last month to a 12.54 million unit annual pace that was the best since the government’s cash-for-clunkers program in August 2009.
Demand dropped 2.9 percent at building-material stores, the most since May, and restaurant receipts dropped 0.7 percent, the biggest decrease since March 2009. In contrast, the 1.3 percent gain at grocery stores was the biggest since August.
“Our results underscored signs that consumer confidence continues to improve,” Co-Chief Executive Officer Walter Robb said on a Feb. 9 conference call.
Winter storms spread from the Midwest and the South to New England, covering 71 percent of the country with snow on Jan. 12, according to the National Climatic Data Center.
Cutting Forecasts
Excluding autos, gasoline and building materials, which are the figures used to calculate gross domestic product, sales increased 0.4 percent after a 0.1 percent drop the prior month that was previously reported as a gain.
January figures combined with the revisions prompted some economists to cut forecasts for consumer spending this quarter. David Greenlaw, chief financial economist at Morgan Stanley, said purchases will rise 2.7 percent this quarter, down from his prior estimate of 3.3 percent.
“Consumer can’t quite keep up with exuberant expectations,” Mike Feroli, chief U.S. economist at JPMorgan Securities LLC in New York, said in a note to clients. Feroli said it will “be difficult” to achieve his forecast of 3.5 percent, and said spending is tracking closer to 2.5 percent to 3.0 percent.
Household purchases climbed at a 4.4 percent pace in the last three months of 2010, the biggest increase in four years.
A Karbon brand ski jacket made in China for a company in Toronto costs more to buy in Canada than in the U.S.
Despite the fact, the Canadian dollar is now at or near par with the U.S. greenback, a price gap persists.
The gap has closed in the three years since the dollar first hit parity with its U.S. counterpart.
But only by about 10 per cent, says Hugh Schure, president of Schure Sports, the Toronto-based designer of Karbon brand skiwear.
That
Intel Corp. reported the best fourth-quarter earnings in company history Thursday, as both the chipmaker’s revenue and profit set new records.
Intel posted earnings per share of 59 cents. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters had forecast earnings of 53 cents per share.
Revenue for the Santa Clara, Calif., company rose 8% over the previous year to $11.5 billion, topping analysts’ forecasts of $11.37 billion.
"2010 was the best year in Intel’s history. We believe that 2011 will be even better," Paul Otellini, Intel president and CEO, said in a written statement.
Revenue from Intel’s closely-watched Atom microprocessor and PC group was flat compared to the prior quarter, while its data center group posted a 15% increase in revenue.
The current quarter looks to be strong as well.
"The guidance for the first quarter of 2011 was much better than people expected," said Daniel Amir, an analyst at Lazard Capital Markets. "That was a positive surprise."
Amir said Intel’s new Sandy Bridge processor line is likely to boost revenue. The bottom line will also be helped by an extra week in next quarter’s calendar.
Meanwhile, the company’s gross margin in the fourth quarter was 67.5%, above expectations and slightly improved from last quarter’s 67%.
The strong quarterly results pushed Intel to new full-year highs as well. Revenue of $43.6 billion, operating income of $15.9 billion, net income of $11.7 billion and earnings per share of $2.05 all set records.
Intel is a closely watched bellwether by analysts. A strong showing by Intel tends to indicate increased demand for tech spending by consumers and businesses — a sign that the economy is improving.
It’s already been a busy week for the chip manufacturing sector.
On Monday, Intel (INTC, Fortune 500) announced a $1.5 billion, six-year agreement with graphics chip-maker Nvidia that will allow Intel access to patents for graphics chips.
And chip maker AMD (AMD, Fortune 500) announced the immediate resignation of CEO Dirk Meyer, sparking uncertainty about what the future holds for Intel’s chief rival.
Germany may be softening its opposition to expanding the 750 billion-euro ($966 billion) rescue facility for indebted euro nations as investors question Portugal’s ability to avoid tapping the fund.
Chancellor Angela Merkel’s chief spokesman, Steffen Seibert, declined to repeat German objections to restocking the fund after the Handelsblatt newspaper reported European Union leaders may discuss the matter in February.
“No decision has been taken about widening the rescue fund,” Seibert said by telephone yesterday. “We should note that only a small part of the available funds has been tapped.”
Merkel has up to now opposed expanding government-funded help for debt-plagued euro nations, saying as recently as Dec. 6 that she sees no need for additional aid. With Portugal due to sell debt on Jan. 12 and Spain on Jan. 13, attention is shifting back to whether Europe is doing enough to stem the crisis.
Portuguese bonds opened lower today, sending the 10-year yield up five basis points to 7.44 percent as of 8:38 a.m. in London. The yield on 10-year Spanish bonds rose 2 basis points to 5.58 percent at 8 a.m. in London.
EU leaders may discuss expanding the temporary rescue fund when they next meet for a summit in February, Handelsblatt reported yesterday in an advance copy of an article in today’s edition, citing German government officials it didn’t identify. The EU could time such a pledge to coincide with granting aid to Portugal, Der Spiegel magazine reported in this week’s edition.
There are “no talks going on, nor envisaged to begin” about Portugal tapping the EU’s crisis-resolution facility. Amadeu Altafaj, spokesman for EU Economic and Monetary Affairs Commissioner Olli Rehn, said today in an e-mailed statement.
Euro Drops
The euro has dropped 11 percent against the U.S. dollar over the past 12 months as investor concern over the debt levels in some euro-area states drove bond yields to records payday loans with no fax. The euro fell to $1.2867 today, the weakest level since Sept. 14, before trading little changed.
France and Germany will push Portugal to accept aid as officials in the two countries doubt the Lisbon government can raise money on capital markets much longer, Der Spiegel said.
Aid for Portugal should coincide with an agreement by the euro-area countries to provide all means necessary to safeguard the monetary union, including unlimited funds to expand the bailout facility if required, the Hamburg-based weekly said.
Seibert denied that Merkel is pressing Portugal to tap the rescue fund, saying Germany’s aim is to ensure that Prime Minister Jose Socrates persuades markets he is pursuing budget discipline.
‘Sustainable Steps’
“What’s important is that governments take sustainable steps toward more stability and competitiveness, and that the markets recognize that,” Seibert said.
The extra yield investors demand to hold 10-year Portuguese government debt instead of same maturity German bunds widened to 4.33 percentage points on Jan. 7, the most since November, as the country sought to persuade investors it can narrow its budget gap and avoid following Greece and Ireland into accepting a bailout.
“Markets won’t stay at these levels because that’s just not sustainable and if they widen much further, then we’ll soon have rescue packages for Spain and Portugal,” Erik Nielsen, chief European economist at Goldman Sachs Group Inc, said in a research note yesterday.
“All the mechanisms are in place” to help Portugal if it asks for aid, German Finance Ministry spokesman Tobias Romeis said in a telephone interview.
U.K. consumer confidence fell to a 20-month low in November as the looming government budget squeeze dented Britons’ outlook for 2011, Nationwide Building Society said.
The index of sentiment slipped 7 points from October to 45, the lowest since March 2009, the customer-owned lender said in an e-mailed report today. The gauge has now fallen for three consecutive months. The measure of consumers’ future expectations fell 9 points to 61, also a 20-month low.
Prime Minister David Cameron’s drive to tackle the record budget deficit with the deepest spending cuts since World War II threatens to slow economic growth. The squeeze will eliminate 330,000 public-sector jobs and increase sales tax to 20 percent next year from its current level of 17.5 percent.
“The strong rally in sentiment that took place from the middle of 2009 into the first quarter of this year has now been almost completely reversed,” Martin Gahbauer, chief economist at Swindon, England-based Nationwide, said in a statement. “The fall in confidence can largely be attributed to consumers growing increasingly cautious over the outlook.”
An index of people’s current perception of the economy dropped 5 points to 21, while a gauge of whether now is a good time to spend slumped 13 points to 79, the report showed. TNS-RI questioned 1,000 people for Nationwide between Oct. 18 and Nov. 21. GfK NOP Ltd.’s consumer-confidence index fell in November to a four-month low, according to a Nov no fax cash loans. 30 report.
Sentiment Lag
Weakening sentiment is “not uncommon in the early stages of a recovery” as improvements in the labor market often lag turnarounds in the wider economy, Gahbauer said.
While jobless claims fell in November, unemployment measured by International Labour Organization methods rose by 35,000 to 2.5 million people in the quarter through October.
The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development said in a separate report that fewer British employees expect a pay raise next year as government workers grow more pessimistic about the future. Fifty-eight percent of the 3,000 respondents in a survey said they anticipate a wage increase in 2011, compared with a result of 67 percent last year, CIPD said.
Meanwhile, a gauge of U.K. residential rents was little changed in November as increases in London offset declines in other areas of England. The average monthly rent for a home in England and Wales was 692 pounds ($1,079) last month, compared with 691 pounds in October, the Newcastle, England-based company said today. While London posted a 1.8 percent gain, rents fell by 3.1 percent in eastern England and 2.4 percent in the East Midlands.
New Zealand’s central bank will probably keep its benchmark interest rate unchanged and may lower economic forecasts as domestic demand weakens and dry weather threatens farm production.
Reserve Bank of New Zealand Governor Alan Bollard will leave the official cash rate at 3 percent at 9 a.m. tomorrow in Wellington, according to all 14 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News. Ten analysts expect the first rate rise in March and four forecast an increase in the second quarter, the survey showed.
Weaker growth and a pause in rates may curb demand for New Zealand’s currency, the third-best performer in the past year among Group of 10 currencies. Bollard also may lower growth forecasts and signal a more gradual increase in borrowing costs because of concerns a drought may curb overseas sales of milk, meat and other exports, which make up 30 percent of the economy.
“The RBNZ’s projections will imply a slightly later resumption of the tightening cycle,” said Darren Gibbs, chief New Zealand economist at Deutsche Bank AG in Auckland. “Risks to agricultural sector production from the possible continuation of recent very dry weather and the disease impacting kiwifruit vines will also be weighing on the governor’s mind.”
Parts of the country are “heading for extremely dry conditions, probably drought,” Agriculture Minister David Carter said in a Dec. 2 interview.
A bacterial disease that affects vine growth has been detected in 107 kiwifruit orchards, threatening the NZ$1.4 billion ($1.1 billion) export industry. The country is also investigating a surge in deaths on local marine farms of Pacific oysters, an industry estimated to be worth NZ$26 million in 2009.
Milk Output
Fonterra Cooperative Group Ltd., the world’s biggest dairy exporter, said on Dec. 2 it was watching weather conditions closely. North Island milk collection fell 4.3 percent last year because of dry conditions in the largest milk-producing province.
Gibbs expects the central bank will lower its forecasts for growth in the year ending March 31, 2011, from 2.8 percent because of weakness in the housing market and consumer spending, and the disruption caused by the magnitude 7 earthquake that struck Canterbury province Sept. 4.
Gross domestic product increased 0.2 percent in the three months ended June 30, less than a quarter of the pace Bollard predicted in September. Third-quarter growth may also miss the central bank’s 0.8 percent forecast.
Bollard said in a Nov. 19 speech that the economic recovery “could yet be a prolonged process” amid sluggish demand and a weak recovery in major markets for New Zealand goods such as the U.S., Japan and the U.K.
RBA’s Pause
Australia’s central bank yesterday left its benchmark rate unchanged at 4.75 percent, saying inflation is expected to be “little changed” over the next few quarters and citing market volatility tied to concerns about European government debt.
European finance ministers, who last week handed Ireland an 85 billion euro ($113 billion) lifeline, yesterday ruled out immediate aid for Portugal and Spain. Sovereign debt issues in Europe “add further weight to the Reserve Bank remaining on hold for the time being,” said Nick Tuffley, chief economist at ASB Bank Ltd. in Auckland.
New Zealand’s domestic economy has been slowed by a weak housing market and sluggish consumer spending, even as unemployment declines, economists said.
House prices in November rose 0.3 percent from a year earlier, the smallest gain since October 2009, according to a report yesterday from Quotable Value, a government agency.
Consumer Demand
Consumer purchases on debit, credit and store cards rose 0.8 percent in October, Statistics New Zealand said on Nov. 9. Excluding fuel outlets, spending was unchanged.
“We are witnessing a tightening of retail demand,” Warren Bell, chairman of New Zealand apparel retailer Hallenstein Glasson Holdings Ltd., told the company’s annual meeting in Christchurch yesterday. “The opportunity to improve sales and margin on the existing business base is now far more challenging.”
Consumer confidence was near a 14-month low in November, according to an ANZ National Bank Ltd. Still, business confidence rose for a third month on expectations for more hiring and investment, ANZ National said in a second survey published Nov. 29.
The third-quarter jobless rate fell to 6.4 percent and employers added 22,000 workers, about twice the pace expected in a Bloomberg News survey, according to figures published Nov. 4.
Consumer prices rose 1.5 percent in the 12 months ended Sept. 30, the smallest increase in six years, according to a government report in October. Still, inflation is likely to peak at 4.8 percent by mid-2011 as the sales tax is included, the central bank forecasts.
Bollard is required to keep inflation in a range of 1 percent to 3 percent, and the central bank forecasts prices excluding the effects of the sales tax will peak at 2.1 percent for the year ending June 2011.
Buffalo Sabres forward Jason Pominville is expected to be out of the team's line-up for a still-to-be determined period of time after suffering a concussion in Monday night's 4-3 loss to the Chicago Blackhawks.
Pominville was injured late in the first period after taking a hard hit from Blackhawks defenseman Niklas Hjalmarsson. Hjalmarsson received a five-minute major and a game misconduct and may be subject to further discpline by the National Hockey League.
Pominville lay prone for more than seven minutes. The Sabres' forward was taken off the ice on a stretcher.
"It was a quiet bench for a while," said Sabres coach Lindy Ruff. "To see a guy carried off on a stretcher and you don't know his condition…first and foremost you worry about your teammate. We've seen some bad things happen in this building."
Then-Florida Panthers forward Richard Zednek had his throat accidentially sliced during a February 2008 game against the Sabres. He recovered and returned to the NHL the following season.
Ruff said he expects Pominville to be out, but he doesn't know for how long.
Pominville also took eight stitches above his eye because of the hit.
"The good thing is we knew he (Pominville) was talking and moving," said Sabres forward Thomas Vanek. "It was encouraging."
Pominville was treated in the medical room in HSBC Arena. Ruff said he was sitting up after the game.
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