IN BRIEF

ATLANTIC CITY

Casino companies cut pay for executives

It's not so lonely at the top when it comes to the pay cuts sweeping the casino industry.

While many gambling houses across the country have laid off hourly workers and cut or frozen pay for those who remain, top executives are feeling the pain, too. Many of the country's largest casino companies have cut pay for their executives and managers.

They range from mandatory unpaid days off -- equal to a 5 percent pay cut -- for managers at Resorts Atlantic City and the Atlantic City Hilton Casino Resort to a 15 percent cut for top earners in Steve Wynn's casino empire.

Harrah's Entertainment Inc. cut the pay of managers at all of the more than 50 casinos it runs. Spokeswoman Alyce Parker blamed the recession and economic climate on the 5 percent pay cuts, which saved the company about $90 million.

When announcing his company's cuts in February, Wynn said the measure was designed to share the pain while sparing jobs. The company saved $75 million to $100 million by cutting managers' pay by 10 to 15 percent and reducing hours for hourly workers.

RENO

Laid-off mine workers sue, say pay was denied

Five workers laid off last year from a Northern Nevada mine have sued a Canadian firm, claiming they were denied notice and severance pay, as well as medical and retirement benefits required under federal law.

The lawsuit, filed last week in U.S. District Court in Reno, seeks class action status for the roughly 400 employees at the Jerritt Canyon Mine in northeast Nevada who lost their jobs in August 2008.

Vancouver, British Columbia-based Queenstake Resources owns the mine 50 miles north of Elko through its subsidiary, Yukon-Nevada Gold Corp.

MILWAUKEE

Coca-Cola profit rises 43 percent in quarter

Coca-Cola Co.'s second-quarter profit rose 43 percent, and the world's largest beverage maker said Tuesday its rapid overseas growth helped offset weak domestic volumes, even as foreign currency exchange dragged down sales.

For the three months ending July 3, Coca-Cola said it earned $2.04 billion, or 88 cents per share, up from $1.42 billion, or 61 cents per share, a year earlier.

Profit in the quarter rose mostly because last year's quarter was dragged down by 40 cents a share in restructuring charges and asset write-downs. That compares with 4 cents per share in charges in the most recent quarter.

Overall, sales fell 9 percent to $8.27 billion, missing Wall Street's estimate of $8.66 billion.

DALLAS

Even as travel wanes, Southwest scores profit

Southwest Airlines Co. broke a string of three straight losing quarters by scratching out a small profit in the April-June period despite a downturn in travel.

Demand for business travel remains weak, and "we cannot predict a profitable third quarter," Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Gary Kelly said.

Southwest, the busiest carrier at McCarran International Airport, is also cutting its work force, and it announced that 1,400 employees -- about 4 percent of its workers -- had accepted early-out offers of cash and travel benefits.

Dallas-based Southwest said Tuesday it earned $54 million, or 7 cents per share in the quarter ended June 30, down sharply from $321 million, or 44 cents per share, a year earlier.

Excluding one-time items, Southwest said it would have earned $59 million, or 8 cents per share. Analysts expected profit of 7 cents per share excluding items.

Revenue fell 8.8 percent to $2.62 billion.

WASHINGTON

Resistance meets Fed push to expand duties

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke ran into skepticism Tuesday from lawmakers wary of expanding the Fed's duties to police big financial companies. They argued that the Fed failed to spot problems that led to the financial crisis in the first place.

"The Fed has made some big mistakes," said Rep. Spencer Bachus, R-Ala., ranking member of the House Financial Services Committee.

An Obama administration proposal to make the Fed the supercop of globally interconnected financial companies would be "just inviting a false sense of security that inevitably will be shattered at the expense of the taxpayer," Bachus warned.

Bernanke countered that the administration's proposal would be a "modest reorientation" of the Fed's powers, not a great expansion of them.

Apple posts best third quarter ever

Apple Inc. on Tuesday posted its best third quarter ever, bolstered by blistering sales of its iPhone 3GS and its iPod Touches. The Cupertino, Calif., company had $8.3 billion in sales in the quarter ended June 27, up 12 percent from $7.5 billion a year ago.

Profit also grew 14.6 percent from a year ago to $1.2 billion.

Apple shares, which have climbed 67 percent this year, surged as much as 4.6 percent in after-hours trading following the earnings release. It had closed down $1.40, or 1 percent, to $151.51.

"We are very proud of this result, particularly given the economic environment around us," Apple Chief Financial Officer Peter Oppenheimer said during a conference call with analysts. He noted that the company saw its biggest quarterly revenue outside of the winter holiday season.

SAN FRANCISCO

CIT Group warns of possible bankruptcy

Shares of CIT Group Inc. slumped 21.6 percent Tuesday after the company warned that it may have to file for bankruptcy if a planned tender offer for debt maturing on Aug. 17 doesn't get enough support and it can't arrange alternative financing.

CIT also forecast a second-quarter loss of at least $1.5 billion and disclosed that regulators have ordered its CIT Bank unit to stop collecting "brokered deposits," a key source of future funding. The company even warned that CIT Bank might be shut down by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.

In Nevada, CIT Small Business Lending Corp. made 17 standard 7(a) Small Business Administration loans totaling $19.6 million in the past fiscal year in Nevada, but has made only one 7(a) loan for $603,000 in the fiscal year that started Oct. 1.

CIT shares dropped 27 cents, or 21.6 percent, Tuesday to close at 98 cents on the New York Stock Exchange.

DOVER, Del.

DuPont profits fall by 61 percent in quarter

Lower sales and the costs of cutting thousands of jobs helped push second-quarter profits down 61 percent for chemical giant DuPont, overshadowing a strong showing by its agriculture and nutrition business.

Wilmington, Del.-based DuPont on Tuesday reported earnings of $417 million, or 46 cents per share, in the three months ended June 30, down from $1.08 billion, or $1.18 per share, a year earlier.

Revenue fell 24.7 percent, to $7 billion from $9.3 billion.

NEW YORK

Firm bids $725 million to buy Nortel assets

A private equity firm specializing in distressed assets says it is bidding $725 million to acquire the cell phone network assets of Nortel Networks Corp., topping a previous $650 million bid from Nokia Siemens Networks.

MPAM Wireless, an affiliate of MatlinPatterson Global Opportunities Partners III LP, said it submitted the bid for Nortel's CDMA and LTE assets to Nortel and its creditors Tuesday.

CDMA, or code division multiple access, is a rival standard to the dominant cellular standard GSM, or global system for mobile, while LTE is a next-generation wireless network technology.

Nortel, a former telecommunications equipment powerhouse, sought bankruptcy protection in January and was planning to liquidate its business.