Business

Updated 3:07 p.m.
Warmer winter weather slowed Duke Energy's electricity sales in the first three months of the year. But profits still rose slightly, and executives say overall Duke is growing.  During the first quarter, the company also logged expenses from its October merger with Piedmont Natural Gas, and saw international revenues disappear, after the December sale of its Latin American operations.

Duke Energy shareholders elected directors and voted on other questions Thursday at the company's first virtual annual meeting. Ballots and questions for the CEO were submitted in advance, or by clicking a button on a special web page.

Duke CEO Lynn Good sat on a blue-curtained set and looked toward the camera as she opened the meeting at an undisclosed location.

A Charlotte-based bank started by former Bank of America executives is being sold. Capital Bank will become part First Horizon of Memphis, Tennessee, in a $2.2 billion-dollar deal announced Thursday morning.

Duke Energy's annual meeting is Thursday, but don't try to go to uptown Charlotte and vote your shares. This year’s meeting will be at a secret location, beamed to shareholders via telephone and internet. Protesters say they'll be at Duke's headquarters anyway.  

An independent report’s findings have spurred Wells Fargo to claw back an additional $75 million in compensation from two executives over the banks’ use of fake customer accounts. But the investigation also shows the scandal goes much deeper and has gone on for far longer than previously known.

One HB 2 related boycott has come to an end. The NCAA announced Tuesday North Carolina can again host championship events. However, the league wrote the decision was a "reluctant one."

College sports do bring big money to the state. But have nowhere near the economic impact of boycotts by business.

The long-awaited renovation of the Carolina Theatre in uptown Charlotte is scheduled to begin in May. That's according to the Foundation for the Carolinas, which owns the property. The foundation also announced Tuesday it has investors lined up for a luxury hotel to be built above the theater.