In Brief
Bally Technologies lands deal for Aqueduct lottery terminals
Bally Technologies appears to be the big winner in the decade-long effort to add a casino to New York City's Aqueduct Racetrack.
The Las Vegas-based gaming equipment manufacturer has a contract through December 2017 to provide the market-share of the slot machinelike video lottery terminals used by New York's racetrack casinos.
New York's state comptroller approved a contract between the state lottery and Malaysia-based Genting to operate a slot machine-only casino at Aqueduct, a racetrack in the New York City borough of Queens.
Genting plans to open the casino in six months with 1,600 video slot machines and other electronic games. Genting has promised to spend up to $1.3 billion on the facility, which will be known as Resorts World New York.
The casino will have 4,525 VLT machines, two restaurants and a skybridge connecting it to the subway stop at Aqueduct.
Bally could provide more than half of the total gambling machines at Aqueduct. Analysts said the company has about 6,500 games in New York racetracks.
CINCINNATI
Kroger Co.'s sales and profits rise during second quarter
Sales and profits are up, and so is Kroger Co.'s optimism, as the nation's largest traditional grocer sees more households regularly shopping at its stores.
Kroger reported net income of $261.6 million, or 41 cents per share, in its second quarter ended Aug. 14, up 2.8 percent from $254.4 million, or 39 cents per share, a year earlier.
Revenue rose 6.2 percent to $18.8 billion from $17.7 billion last year; excluding fuel sales, revenue rose 3.3 percent.
Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters expected 36 cents a share and $18.7 billion in revenue.
The company said sales at stores open at least 15 months, a key retail measure, rose 2.7 percent, excluding fuel. Kroger reiterated its earnings guidance for the year of $1.60 to $1.80 per share, saying it hoped to reach the high end of that range. Analysts project $1.74 per share.
In Southern Nevada, Kroger operates 30 Smith's, 14 Food 4 Less supermarkets and three Fred Meyer Jeweler's shops.
NEW YORK
Cisco Systems says it will pay first dividend by July
Cisco Systems Inc., the world's largest maker of computer-networking gear, said Tuesday that it would pay its first dividend by July, the end of its current fiscal year.
Like several other big technology companies, Cisco has a large cash balance, and analysts have speculated that it would use it for a dividend.
Cisco CEO John Chambers said the annual dividend yield would be in the 1 percent to 2 percent range. The exact amount will be determined in the coming months while the company considers developments on the tax front and broader market conditions. Speaking at a conference for analysts and investors, Chief Financial Officer Frank Calderoni said the yield would be "competitive."
Cisco shares rose 19 cents, or 0.89 percent, Tuesday to close at $21.45 on the Nasdaq National Market.
NEW YORK
By another name, still as sweet: Refiners push for 'corn sugar'
The makers of high-fructose corn syrup want to sweeten its image with a new name: corn sugar.
The Corn Refiners Association applied Tuesday to the federal government for permission to use the name on food labels.
Americans' consumption of corn syrup has fallen to a 20-year low on consumer concerns that it is more harmful or more likely to cause obesity than ordinary sugar, perceptions for which there is little scientific evidence.
However, some scientists have linked consumption of full-calorie soda -- most of which is sweetened with high-fructose corn syrup -- to obesity.
The Food and Drug Administration could take two years to decide on the name, but that's not stopping the industry from using the term now in advertising.
There's a new online marketing campaign at www.cornsugar.com and on television.
