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The Honolulu Advertiser

Updated at 1:42 p.m., Thursday, August 2, 2007

Business Highlights: Jobless claims, quarterly earnings

Advertiser Staff

WASHINGTON (AP) — The number of newly laid-off people signing up for jobless benefits rose modestly last week, although the latest figures suggest employment conditions are good.

The Labor Department reported Thursday that new applications filed for unemployment insurance increased by a seasonally adjusted 4,000 to 307,000 for the week ending July 28. That was a better than the 310,000 that economists expected.

New claims also are lower now than a year ago, when they stood at 315,000.

In another report, U.S. factories saw demand for their products improve in June, but not as much as some hoped. The Commerce Department said new orders rose 0.6 percent, compared with a 0.5 percent drop in May. Economists were calling for a bigger, 1 percent gain.

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ATLANTA (AP) — Fiserv Inc., a provider of information management systems and services, is buying online banking company CheckFree Corp. for about $4.2 billion in cash, the companies said Thursday.

Officials said there would be cost savings from combining the two companies which serve banks and other financial institutions, but did not say how many, if any, jobs will be shed.

The two companies employ a total of 27,000 people.

On an annualized basis, Fiserv said it expects to realize more than $100 million in cost savings and more than $125 million in extra revenue as a result of the deal. For 2008, the acquisition is expected to add to Fiserv's underlying cash earnings per share, the company said.

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LOS ANGELES (AP) — Mattel Inc. apologized Thursday to customers affected by a recall nearly a million toys from its Fisher-Price division and said the move will cut pretax operating income at the world's largest toy maker by $30 million.

The plastic preschool toys were made in China with paint found to have excessive amounts of lead.

Mattel shares fell 40 cents, or 1.7 percent, to $23.18 Thursday.

The apology came a day after El Segundo-based Mattel disclosed the recall of 967,000 toys manufactured by a Chinese vendor and sold in the United States between May and August.

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NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Hurricane Katrina victims whose homes and businesses were destroyed when floodwaters breached levees in the 2005 storm cannot recover money from their insurance companies for the damages, a federal appeals court ruled Thursday.

The case could affect tens of thousands of rebuilding residents and business owners in Louisiana, said Daniel E. Becnel, who represented 21 plaintiffs in the case. Insurers could have taken a "multibillion dollar hit" if the ruling had gone against the industry, said David Rossmiller, an insurance attorney and analyst.

"This event was excluded from coverage under the plaintiffs' insurance policies, and under Louisiana law, we are bound to enforce the unambiguous terms of their insurance contracts as written," Judge Carolyn King wrote for a three-judge panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

As a result, the panel found those who filed the suit "are not entitled to recover under their policies," she said.

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FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — The European Central Bank held its benchmark interest rate steady at 4 percent on Thursday as inflation in the 13 nations that use the euro remains relatively tame.

Some analysts had said the bank would act cautiously amid the global market volatility that has been fed by worries about the possible fallout from an expanding subprime loan crunch in the U.S.

ECB President Jean-Claude Trichet said it remains integral for investors and regulators to keep hold of their "composure" in such times.

Global stock markets have zigzagged on persistent worries that a deteriorating lending environment will make it harder for companies to borrow money.

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ROCHESTER, N.Y. (AP) — Eastman Kodak Co. swung to a second-quarter profit Thursday despite lower sales and hefty restructuring charges as the photography icon enters the final stretch in a drastic, four-year digital makeover.

The results beat Wall Street expectations and its stock rose more than 5 percent.

Kodak earned $592 million, or $2.06 a share, in the April-June quarter, versus a loss of $282 million, or 98 cents a share, a year earlier when it also took charges tied to its massive overhaul.

Its shares jumped $1.38, or 5.4 percent, to $26.93 Thursday.

Sales fell 6.6 percent to $2.51 billion, from $2.69 billion. Digital revenue rose 3 percent to $1.46 billion but revenues from film, paper and other traditional, chemical-based products slid 17 percent to $1.04 billion.

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TOKYO (AP) — A coalition of Japanese television, music and film companies slammed YouTube Thursday, saying the online video sharing service was not doing enough to rid the site of cartoons and other clips that infringe on copyrights.

The group also expressed skepticism over an automatic video recognition and purging system being developed by YouTube parent Google Inc., questioning the reliability of the technology and saying it was taking too long.

YouTube has been immensely popular in Japan, trumping rival Japanese video sharing sites. It launched a Japanese language version of the site in June to gain even more viewers — and to post warnings against uploading copyrighted materials in Japanese.

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NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Paper and packaging company International Paper Co. said Thursday its second-quarter profit more than doubled, but failed to meet Wall Street expectations, as improved pricing was offset by raw material costs and planned maintenance outages.

Net income rose to $190 million, or 44 cents per share, from $83 million, or 17 cents per share, a year ago. Earnings per share from continuing operations before one-time items grew to 52 cents per share from 30 cents in the prior-year period.

Quarterly sales slipped to $5.29 billion from $5.72 billion in the second quarter of 2006, primarily reflecting year-ago sales from the company's U.S. coated papers business, which it sold in August 2006.

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NEW YORK (AP) — Viacom Inc., a media conglomerate that owns MTV and Paramount Pictures, reported slightly lower second-quarter results Thursday following a tax gain in the year-ago period. Results from its movie business rose.

Higher DVD sales and box office receipts led to a 20 percent gain in revenues from movies, and Viacom cited several theatrical hits in the quarter, including "Blades of Glory," "Disturbia" and distribution of "Shrek the Third" from DreamWorks Animation.

Viacom, which also owns Comedy Central, BET and VH1, earned $434 million in the three months ending in June, versus $437.3 million in the same period a year earlier. Per-share earnings edged up to 63 cents from 61 cents because fewer shares were outstanding in the most recent quarter.