IN BRIEF

Magician lists liabilities of more than $54 million in bankruptcy

Magician Steve Wyrick made more than $54 million disappear while operating his own theater, according to a bankruptcy filing on Monday.

Wyrick listed assets of $93,157 against liabilities of $54,353,748 in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court filing.

The magician, whose full name is Gale Steven Wyrick, closed his show in December at the Miracle Mile Shops at Planet Hollywood.

The landlord, Boulevard Invest LLC, sued Wyrick for back rent in January and later foreclosed on the theater and lounge Wyrick, which opened in 2007, at a cost then said to be $35 million.

The primary creditors listed in the filing are Colorado real estate developer Stephen Tebo, $15 million; Texas businessman Byron Burke Barr, $7.5 million; Boulevard Invest, $6.6 million and Hollis Campbell/Star Mobile Homes, $5 million.

Wynn Resorts sues former partner, denies owing money

Wynn Resorts Ltd. is suing its former investment partner Atlantic-Pacific Capital and denying that it owes APC $32 million related to the gaming company's Macau's IPO.

The lawsuit was moved to federal court on Monday at the request of APC.

The Connecticut-incorporated Atlantic-Pacific Capital entered a March 2008 agreement with Wynn to raise $1.5 billion in equity capital for the acquisition of distressed gaming properties, mostly in Nevada, a Clark County District Court filing by Wynn Resorts shows.

The agreement between the two parties was terminated in December 2009 after APC ceased marketing efforts and failed to raise any money, Wynn's complaint alleges.

Wynn raised its own capital by selling about 25 percent of its interest in Wynn Macau in September 2009. Later, APC demanded 2 percent of the capital raised, or $32 million, Wynn lawyers claim.

Wynn Macau Ltd. was formed in 2004, years before the APC agreement, Wynn contends. The resort's filing requests a court ruling that Wynn Macau's IPO proceeds are not affected by the APC contract.

Wynn also seeks to stop APC's request for arbitration.

"APC is entitled to nothing whatsoever here," the resort's attorneys said in their motion for an emergency stay of the arbitration proceedings.

APC's local counsel, Terry Care, was not available for comment late Tuesday.

CHICAGO

As customers return, quarterly earnings jump for Home Depot

Customers returned to Home Depot Inc. in its fiscal first quarter, boosting the home improvement superstore chain's profit.

Home Depot earned $725 million, or 43 cents per share, for the three-month period that ended May 2, up from earnings of $514 million, or 30 cents per share, a year earlier.

Adjusted profit was 45 cents per share, excluding a one-time, $33 million cost related to extending the company's guarantee of a third-party loan.

Revenue rose 4.3 percent, to $16.86 billion from $16.18 billion.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters, who typically exclude one-time items, expected profit of 40 cents per share on revenue of $16.37 billion.

SAN FRANCISCO

Rising demand for computers lifts Hewlett-Packard's profits

Hewlett-Packard Co.'s net income jumped 28 percent in the latest quarter as stronger demand for computers is helping to heal a battered technology industry.

HP said after the market closed Tuesday that it earned $2.2 billion, or 91 cents per share, in its fiscal second quarter, which ended April 30. It earned $1.7 billion, or 71 cents per share, in the same period last year.

Excluding special items, it earned $1.09 per share. Analysts expected $1.05 per share on that basis.

Revenue rose 13 percent to $30.8 billion, better than the $29.8 billion that analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected. In the same quarter a year earlier, revenue was $27.4 billion.

Shares of HP rose $1.06, or 2.3 percent, to $47.85 in after-hours trading Tuesday on the New York Stock Exchange.

DALLAS

FAA boss says agency won't
be scapegoat for flight delays

The head of the Federal Aviation Administration says his agency isn't willing to be the scapegoat when airline flights are delayed.

Randy Babbitt said Tuesday that delays are mostly caused by airlines cramming too many flights into the peak morning and afternoon schedules. He cited frequent backups at Atlanta, Chicago's O'Hare and San Francisco as examples of the result, and he complained that pilots tell passengers that delays are the fault of the FAA.

"The FAA is not going to sit back and simply be the scapegoat," Babbitt said. He said delays won't be reduced "unless we commit to sensible, thoughtful scheduling practices."