Playboy Enterprises agreed with Dwango Wireless to provide Playboy-branded games, images, video clips, voice clips and ring tones on demand to more than 170 million North American cellular telephone and other wireless subscribers, starting early next year.
Sales of sport-utility vehicles in the United States rose 56 percent between 1997 and 2002, resulting in on SUV for every eight licensed drivers, according to a Census Bureau report. The growth in SUV registrations in the 1997-2002 period marked a drop from 81 percent growth during the previous five years, reflecting a degree of market saturation, the report said. There are now more than 24 million SUVs in America's vehicle fleet.
Intel increased its fourth-quarter sales forecasts on higher-than-expected demand for laptop and desktop personal computers. Shares rose 5.5 percent on the news. The Santa Clara, Calif.-based chipmaker said sales for the period are expected to be $9.3 billion to $9.5 billion, up from an October estimate of $8.6 billion to $9.2 billion.
(Paul Sakuma-AP)
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INTERNATIONAL
The U.S. government will wait until next year to argue its case before the World Trade Organization over European aid to aircraft maker Airbus. A U.S. trade official said that the plan is to give new European Union Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson, who started on the job Nov. 22, time to become familiar with the dispute.
China called on the United States to scrap anti-dumping penalties on imports of Chinese shrimp, denying that its producers were selling at unfairly low prices. Washington imposed duties of 27.9 percent to 112.8 percent on frozen and canned shrimp from China and Vietnam on Tuesday after complaints from U.S. producers.
The European Central Bank left interest rates unchanged, with bank President Jean-Claude Trichet saying Europe's modest recovery remains on track but will slow next year due to high oil prices. Europe's top economic policymaker said little new about the dollar, repeating his earlier statement that the U.S. currency's rapid plunge was "unwelcome." The bank cut its projection for economic growth next year to 1.4 percent to 2.4 percent, from 1.8 percent to 2.8 percent.
Energizer Holdings said it won a patent infringement case filed by competitor Gillette in a German court. The court ruled that the four-bladed Quattro razor made by Energizer's German business does not infringe on Gillette's European patent regarding three-bladed progressive exposure and that Gillette had to reimburse Energizer's court costs.
China said it is testing the safety of genetically modified rice but denied claims by environmentalists that it is preparing to allow commercial sales. The government is researching genetic engineering of crops, hoping to increase farm output as it copes with a shortage of farmland and the need to feed a population of 1.3 billion. A report released this week by Greenpeace appealed to China to consider possible threats to public health and agricultural diversity.
Infineon Technologies executives have agreed to plead guilty to price-fixing charges, serve prison terms and pay fines of $250,000 each, the Justice Department said. Court papers charge that four vice presidents of the German maker of computer chips were involved in a conspiracy to fix the prices of dynamic random access memory chips sold to computer and server makers. In October, Infineon pleaded guilty as a corporation in the price-fixing case and agreed to pay a $160 million criminal fine.
EARNINGS
Mandalay Resort Group said third-quarter profit grew 65 percent, helped by a surge in revenue. The casino operator said profit for the quarter ended Oct. 31 was $67.1 million, up from $40.6 million in the comparable quarter last year. Revenue rose 15 percent to $720.3 million. The company has agreed to be acquired by MGM Mirage.
Pathmark Stores reported a bigger third-quarter loss and said it retained Dresdner, Kleinwort and Wasserstein to help review strategic alternatives, including a possible sale of the company. The Carteret, N.J.-based supermarket chain lost $3.6 million on revenue of $979.9 million for the three months ended Oct. 30.
Albertsons, the huge food and drug retailer, reported its profit rose 19.5 percent in the third quarter, to $110 million, from $92 million in the comparable quarter last year, despite the adverse impact on its operations from four hurricanes that hit Florida and other states this past summer. Sales rose to nearly $10 billion from $8.7 billion.
Del Monte Foods said its second-quarter profit rose to $41.6 million on $846.6 million in sales, up from $40.2 million on $791.6 million in the comparable quarter last year.
Compiled from reports by the Associated Press, Bloomberg News, Dow Jones News Service and Washington Post staff writers.
