IN BRIEF
Casino on Strip gets new president
Casino industry veteran Thomas McCartney has been named president and chief executive officer of Planet Hollywood Resort, the Strip property announced Wednesday.
The 56-year-old McCartney replaces Mike Mecca, who had held the position since a joint venture led by restaurateur Robert Earl was formed in March 2003 to buy the Aladdin.
McCartney spent the past 12 years with MGM Mirage, most recently as senior vice president of marketing and development at the Luxor. He also opened New York-New York.
McCartney takes over a property that experienced a 16.1 percent revenue surge in the first nine months of 2008, aided by a rebranding of the resort unveiled in November 2007.
Reasons behind Mecca's departure were unknown.
Shuffle Master reports quarterly net loss
Gambling equipment provider Shuffle Master Gaming said Wednesday it had a net loss of $15 million in the fourth quarter that ended Oct. 31, compared with a net gain of $8.1 million a year ago. The company's net loss per share was 28 cents, compared with a net income per share of 23 cents in the same quarter of 2007.
For all of 2008, Shuffle Master lost $10.8 million, compared with a net income of $16.4 million in 2007.
Shuffle Master's overall revenues were $53.6 million in the quarter, compared with $51.7 million a year ago, and $190 million for all of 2008, compared with $178.8 million in 2007.
NEW YORK
Sales lose sparkle at Tiffany, fall 24 percent
Tiffany & Co. said Wednesday that its same-store sales for the holiday season slid 24 percent primarily on softness at its domestic stores and warned that the performance would drag down fourth-quarter earnings.
The New York-based company also lowered its full-year profit forecast.
Tiffany's same-store sales results exclude the conversion of foreign currency sales into U.S. dollars.
Same-store sales, or sales at stores open at least a year, are a key indicator of retailer performance since they measure growth at existing stores rather than newly opened ones.
Total sales for the November through December period dropped 20 percent, while worldwide sales fell 21 percent to $687.4 million.
The company blamed tightened consumer spending on current economic conditions and cautioned that the environment will likely remain the same for most of 2009.
NEW YORK
Department store files for Chapter 11
Department store chain Gottschalks Inc. put itself up for sale and filed to reorganize in a Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Wednesday.
The retailer -- with stores in Nevada and other states including California, Washington, Alaska, Oregon and Idaho -- has assets of $288.4 million and debts of $197.1 million, according to its bankruptcy petition filed on Wednesday in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware.
Gottschalks has negotiated $125 million in debtor-in-possession financing from a group of lenders led by GE Capital, the company said in a statement.
The financing, if approved in bankruptcy court, will fund employees' wages and benefits, some vendor payments and other operating expenses while the company reorganizes.
NEW YORK
Motorola will trim 4,000 more jobs
Mobile handset maker Motorola Inc. said Wednesday it will cut 4,000 more jobs in 2009, in addition to 3,000 it announced last year.
The company said the move will save about $700 million a year starting in 2009, and totaling $1.5 billion in annual savings when combined with the previous cut.
Most of the new layoffs will hit the mobile devices business, while about 1,000 jobs are tied to corporate functions and other units.
The move is the latest in cost-cutting measures by Motorola, which has been struggling to revive its business in recent years. In December, it announced it was freezing its pension plans and reducing executive pay.
The Schaumburg, Ill.-based company also said Wednesday it expects revenue for the fourth quarter to be between $7 billion and $7.2 billion, as it saw continued weakness in consumer demand and customer inventory reductions.
COLUMBUS, Ohio
Oil prices tumble on demand worries
Oil prices fell Wednesday with a government report showing that crude inventories continued to grow, suggesting that demand for oil and gasoline will not rebound anytime soon.
Light, sweet crude for February delivery fell 50 cents to settle at $37.28 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange after trading as high as $39.45.
Prices have fallen from as high as $50.47 just last week with evidence growing that a weakened global economy has eaten away at demand for energy.
TORONTO
Long-struggling Nortel files for bankruptcy
Nortel Networks Corp. spent years ringing up multiple rounds of layoffs as it tried to fix big problems in its business. But it couldn't ward off the recession.
The telecommunications equipment maker filed for bankruptcy protection in Canada and the U.S. on Wednesday, becoming the first major technology company to take that step in this global downturn.
The filing came a day before Nortel was due to make a debt payment of $107 million.
NEW YORK
Treasury prices rise after report on sales
Treasury prices rose Wednesday, sending yields tumbling, after the government reported a sharper-than-expected drop in retail sales.
The Commerce Department said retail sales slumped 2.7 percent in December.
As the Dow Jones industrial average fell 248 points, the benchmark 10-year Treasury note rose 0.91 points to 113.625, and its yield fell to 2.20 percent from 2.30 percent.
Yields move opposite to prices.
The 30-year bond rose 2.72 points to 131.86 points, and its yield fell to 2.88 percent from 3.00 percent.
