IN BRIEF

Macau gaming revenue heads down in April

Macau's gaming revenues fell some 8.5 percent in April as the global recession continued to impact the Chinese gambling market.

Portuguese-language media in Macau reported the decline. Casinos in the Special Administrative Region had collective revenues of just more than $1 billion.

In March, Macau gaming revenues fell 13 percent. For the first four months of 2009, Macau gaming revenues are down 12 percent.

Macau media said the casinos operated by Hong Kong billionaire Stanley Ho continue to lead in market share, collecting 31 percent of all gaming revenues.

Las Vegas Sands Corp., which operates the Sands Macau and The Venetian Macau, had the second-largest market share with 26 percent.

Wynn Macau, operated by Wynn Resorts Ltd., controlled 13.5 percent of the market.

Allegiant Air traffic up 32.8 percent in April

Las Vegas-based Allegiant Air reported a 32.8 percent increase in passengers in April.

The increase to 472,155 scheduled and chartered passengers comes despite Allegiant's dependence on the troubled leisure travel segment of the economy.

Also on Monday, Allegiant announced an upcoming offering of 2.25 million shares of common stock.

Allegiant operates under parent Allegiant Travel Co.

Greenspun Media lays off 13 workers

The Greenspun Media Group has laid off at least 13 more employees in its latest round of cuts, according to communication industry sources and a local blog.

The latest reduction in work force took place Friday and marks the third round of layoffs for the publisher since last fall.

Among those laid off were a longtime Las Vegas Weekly staff food critic, the editor-in-chief of Vegas Magazine, an art director for Las Vegas Home and Design magazine and a niche publication sales employee, said industry sources and the local blog eating.lv.com. The blog is run by local food critic and attorney John Curtas, who is also a former Greenspun freelance food critic.

Representatives from Greenspun, which also publishes the Las Vegas Sun, In Business Las Vegas and the Henderson Home News, did not return calls for comment.

WASHINGTON

Securing mortgages gets more difficult

A larger share of banks has made it harder for people to obtain home mortgages over the last three months even as demand has grown, the Federal Reserve reported Monday.

The Fed's new quarterly survey found that about 50 percent of U.S. banks tightened their lending standards on prime mortgages, up from about 45 percent in the survey issued in early February.

Meanwhile, 65 percent of banks said they tightened standards on nontraditional mortgages, such as adjustable-rate loans with multiple payment options. That was up from 50 percent in the last survey.

KANSAS CITY, Mo.

'Prepaid' customers lift Sprint Nextel profits

Despite a widening net loss, Sprint Nextel Corp. finally got some good news in its long recovery Monday, as a big surge in "prepaid" customers offset another nightmarish drop in valuable subscribers who sign annual contracts.

Investors responded by sending shares of the nation's third-largest wireless provider up sharply. Sprint shares gained 33 cents, or 7.1 percent, to close at $5 after reaching as high as $5.48 earlier in the session.

The Overland Park, Kan.-based company lost $594 million, or 21 cents per share, in the three months ended March 31, compared with a loss of $505 million, or 18 cents per share, a year earlier.

Not including one-time charges, Sprint said it would have earned 3 cents per share, compared with the 4 cents per share loss analysts had predicted. Revenue fell 12 percent to $8.21 billion.

WASHINGTON

Interest rates higher in Treasury auction

Interest rates on short-term Treasury bills rose in Monday's auction with rates on three-month bills climbing to the highest level in a month.

The Treasury Department auctioned $30 billion in three-month bills at a discount rate of 0.195 percent, up from 0.135 percent last week. Another $28 billion in six-month bills was auctioned at a discount rate of 0.33 percent, up from 0.305 percent last week.

NEW YORK

Treasurys mixed after economic data released

Treasurys ended narrowly mixed Monday after better-than-expected economic data and big debt purchases by the Federal Reserve.

The benchmark 10-year Treasury note was flat at 96.56. Its yield dipped to 3.15 percent from 3.17 percent late Friday.

The 30-year bond rose 0.09 points to 90.31 and its yield edged down to 4.06 percent from 4.08 percent.