Thursday, July 15, 2004
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

In Brief

MGM Mirage OKs buyback of stock

MGM Mirage said Wednesday its board of directors has approved a new stock repurchase program authorizing the company to purchase up to 10 million shares of common stock.

The purchases will be made occasionally in the open market or through privately negotiated third party transactions depending on market conditions, the company said in a statement.

The company additionally announced that it repurchased approximately 5 million shares during the quarter ended June 30, thereby largely completing the stock repurchase program approved in November.

Hampton Inn sold for $7.2 million

Winston Hotels said this week it has sold its 128-room Hampton Inn in northwest Las Vegas for $7.2 million. The sale of the property, which is located at 7100 Cascade Valley Court near U.S. Highway 95 and Cheyenne Avenue, resulted in a $300,000 loss for the Raleigh, N.C.-based hotel operator.

Joe Green, Winston Hotels president and chief financial officer, said the deal was "consistent with our strategy of pruning our hotel portfolio where appropriate." The net proceeds will be used to pay down the company's debt.

The hotel buyer was not identified by the company, but Clark County records list a Henderson company called NWH Ltd. as the site's new owner.

WASHINGTON

Bayer pleads guilty in price-fixing

Bayer AG has agreed to plead guilty and pay a $66 million fine for its part in an international rubber chemical price-fixing cartel, the Justice Department said Wednesday.

The plea by Bayer, based in Leverkusen, Germany, was entered in court papers filed in U.S. District Court in San Francisco.

Bayer becomes the second company to plead guilty as part of the conspiracy. In May, Crompton Corp. of Middlebury, Conn. -- parent of Uniroyal -- agreed to pay a $50 million fine in the case.

CHARLOTTE, N.C.

Bank of America bests expectations

Bank of America Corp. said Wednesday its second-quarter profit soared 41 percent, easily surpassing Wall Street expectations with a boost from the results of newly acquired FleetBoston Financial Corp.

The Charlotte-based banking giant said it earned $3.85 billion, or $1.86 a share, for the three months ended in June. That compared with a profit of $2.74 billion, or $1.80 a share, for the same quarter last year.

Analysts surveyed by research firm Thomson First Call had expected earnings of $1.74 per share.

CHICAGO

McDonald's sales sizzle, up 7.8 percent

McDonald's Corp.'s sales resurgence carried it to better-than-expected profits this spring, the company said Wednesday -- an announcement that sent its stock up sharply.

Based on preliminary numbers, the fast-food giant anticipates it will easily surpass Wall Street's forecast with earnings of about 47 cents a share when it reports second-quarter results July 22. Analysts surveyed by Thomson First Call had pegged earnings at 44 cents a share.

McDonald's reported a 7.8 percent jump in sales from established restaurants during the April-through-June period -- the biggest year-over-year increase for the second quarter since 1987.

The news sent McDonald's shares for the first time back to the level they traded at the time of the April 19 death of CEO Jim Cantalupo, whose back-to-basics approach helped prompt a yearlong resurgence of the company's sales and stock. Shares jumped $1.11, or 4.2 percent, to close at $27.79 Wednesday on the New York Stock Exchange.

NEW YORK

Bond prices slip; traders show caution

Bond prices fell slightly on Wednesday as traders became cautious ahead of the release of key data on prices later this week.

The price of the benchmark 10-year Treasury note fell 0.125 point, or $1.25 per $1,000 in face value. Its yield, which moves in the opposite direction, rose to 4.49 percent compared with 4.47 percent late Tuesday.

The 30-year Treasury bond fell 0.09 point to yield 5.22 percent, up from 5.21 percent a day earlier, according to Moneyline Telerate.

Yields on one-month Treasury bills were 1.16 percent as the discount rose 0.03 percentage point to 1.15 percent. Yields on three-month Treasury bills were 1.34 percent as the discount was unchanged at 1.32 percent.