BUSINESS BRIEFS
Las Vegas hotel fire to cost about $100 million
Associated Press
LAS VEGAS — A fire that sent gamblers fleeing from the Monte Carlo hotel-casino on the Las Vegas Strip in January will cost about $100 million in repairs and lost business, casino operator MGM Mirage Inc. said yesterday.
The company has insurance, but it's not clear how much of the claim will be paid, MGM Mirage spokesman Alan Feldman said as the hotel-casino moved closer to reopening.
"While we do have insurance and we are confident we will not lose all of that $100 million, how much we get back remains to be seen," he said.
Hundreds of workers are at the Monte Carlo around the clock completing repairs needed to reopen tomorrow. Crews were replacing carpeting, wallpaper and drywall that suffered water damage, and repairing the exterior facade damaged in the Jan. 25 blaze.
YAHOO FLIRTING WITH NEWS CORP.
SAN FRANCISCO — Yahoo Inc. is discussing a possible Internet partnership with media conglomerate News Corp., its latest effort to repel Microsoft Corp.'s takeover bid or pry a better offer from the unsolicited suitor, a person familiar with the situation said yesterday.
The specifics of the proposed joint venture haven't been worked out, according to the person, who didn't want to be identified because the talks are considered confidential.
Both The Wall Street Journal and a prominent blog, Tech-Crunch, reported that News Corp. is interested in folding its popular online social network, MySpace.com, and other Internet assets into Yahoo — an idea that first came up last year. News Corp. owns The Wall Street Journal.
News Corp. and a private equity firm reportedly would buy significant stakes in Yahoo as part of a complex deal designed to boost the Sunnyvale-based company's market value above Microsoft's initial bid of $44.6 billion, or $31 per share.
WTO RULES AGAINST CHINA
GENEVA — The World Trade Organization yesterday issued its first official condemnation of Chinese commercial practices, siding with the United States, the European Union and Canada in a dispute over car parts.
The WTO found that China was breaking trade rules by taxing imports of auto parts at the same rate as foreign-made finished cars, according to a copy of the ruling's conclusions obtained by The Associated Press.
In the decision, the three-member WTO panel ruled against China on nearly every point of contention.
MORTGAGE INSURER DOESN'T SEE PROFIT
MILWAUKEE — Mortgage insurer MGIC Investment Corp. said it's looking for ways to boost capital after announcing it lost almost $1.5 billion in the fourth quarter as more homeowners struggled to make payments.
The nation's largest mortgage insurer still doesn't see making money this year, if delinquencies and losses continue to rise and fewer homeowners get back on track with payments, Chairman and Chief Executive Curt S. Culver said.
The news sent the Milwaukee-based company's shares down more than 11 percent in trading yesterday.
COKE REPORTS 79% JUMP IN PROFITS
ATLANTA — The Coca-Cola Co. reported yesterday a 79 percent jump in fourth-quarter profits and maintained its growth targets despite a slowing U.S. economy, but said it has no plans to be more aggressive with its stock buybacks.
The results posted by the world's largest beverage maker beat Wall Street expectations, but company shares slipped.
The Atlanta-based company said it earned $1.21 billion, or 52 cents a share, for the three months ending Dec. 31, compared to a profit of $678 million, or 29 cents a share, a year earlier, when the company took a big impairment charge at its largest bottler.
