AIRLINES ADD FEES: Continental Airlines and United Airlines on Wednesday joined a string of major carriers in charging service fees for airline tickets booked at reservations centers or airport ticket counters in the United States. Effective immediately, customers who buy tickets at Continental's U.S. reservations centers will pay an extra $5, and a $10 fee will be added to tickets bought at ticket counters. No fees will be charged for buying tickets on the airline's Web site or at airport self-service kiosks. United, the nation's No. 2 airline, announced that it will impose the same fees starting today. The moves follow similar service fees imposed by AMR Corp.'s American Airlines, Northwest Airlines Corp. and US Airways Group Inc.
FRANCES COSTS CARNIVAL: Port closures, canceled sailings and changed itineraries caused by Hurricane Frances were expected to cost Carnival Corp. & Plc 3 cents to 4 cents a share in its fourth quarter, the world's largest cruise company said Wednesday. The storm forced the company to cancel three Carnival Cruise Lines voyages and shorten the itineraries for six of its brands' cruises. Guests on canceled cruises were given full refunds or future cruise credits, the Miami company said. Those on shortened cruises were also compensated. Before the announcement, analysts had expected average earnings of 33 cents a share for the quarter, which ends in November, according to Thomson First Call.
DELL STILL RICHEST UNDER 40: Michael Dell, chairman and founder of Dell Computer, once again tops Fortune magazine's annual list of the 40 Richest Americans under the age of 40. With wealth of $17.95-billion, Dell, 39, has held the No. 1 spot since the list was started in 1999. The next nine are, in order: Pierre Omidyar, 37, chairman/founder, eBay ($10.05-billion); Jeff Skoll, 39, chairman/founder, Skoll Foundation ($4.69-billion); Larry Page, 31, president, products/co-founder, Google ($4.19-billion); Sergey Brin, 31, president, technology/co-founder, Google ($4.17-billion); Jerry Yang, 35, chief executive/co-founder, Yahoo ($2.81-billion); David Filo, 38, chief executive/co-founder, Yahoo ($2.57-billion); Ken Griffin, 35, president/founder, Citadel Investment Group ($1-billion); Dan Snyder, 39, chairman/ principal owner, Washington Redskins ($823-million); and Marc Benioff, 39, chairman/CEO, Salesforce.com ($376-million).
GM HAS NEW INCENTIVES: General Motors Corp., coming off a third straight month of declining sales, added $500 to $1,000 in cash incentives on most 2005 model year vehicles Wednesday. GM's cash rebates on most 2005 models now range between $500 and $3,500, spokeswoman Deborah Silverman said. The new deals are good through Sept. 30. Ford Motor Co., the nation's second-largest automaker, said Wednesday that it was keeping its current incentives program intact until at least Sept. 30.
NEW ITEMS BOOST McDONALD'S: New menu items helped lift McDonald's Corp. to a 16th consecutive increase in monthly comparable sales, and the fast-food giant has more sandwiches on the way. The recent launch of Chicken Selects contributed to a better-than- expected 7.2 percent jump in same-store sales at McDonald's 13,600 U.S. restaurants, the company said Wednesday in reporting August results. The Oak Brook, Ill., chain posted a 3.9 percent gain in comparable sales worldwide.
TREASURY AUCTION: Yields on five-year Treasury notes fell in Wednesday's auction to the lowest level in five months. The yield was 3.439 percent, down from 3.520 percent at the last auction on Aug. 11. The notes will carry a coupon interest rate of 33/8 percent with each $10,000 in face value selling for $9,970.80.
NEW OFFER FOR MOLSON? Canadian brewer Molson Inc.'s proposed merger with Adolph Coors Co. may lack sufficient shareholder support because there soon may be another offer to consider, Molson's chief executive was quoted as saying Wednesday. Chief executive Dan O'Neill told Toronto's Globe and Mail newspaper that the proposed deal is the best for shareholders, but wavered on whether enough of the company's class-A nonvoting shareholders were convinced.
EX-INVESCO CHIEF MAY HAVE DEAL: The former chief executive of Invesco Funds Group has agreed to pay $500,000 to settle civil fraud charges relating to improper trading at the mutual funds company, his lawyer said Wednesday. In a tentative deal, Raymond Cunningham agreed to be banned from the industry for two years, said Daniel Fetterman, his attorney. Cunningham also agreed not to serve as an officer or director in the securities industry for five years to settle charges by the Securities and Exchange Commission and New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer, Fetterman said. The SEC still must sign off on the settlement. Spitzer's office declined to comment.
AFC SELLS CINNABON: AFC Enterprises Inc., the franchiser and operator of Popeyes Chicken & Biscuits restaurants, agreed to sell its Cinnabon subsidiary to Focus Brands Inc. for $30.3-million in cash. The transaction is expected to close in the fourth quarter, AFC said in a PRNewswire release. Focus Brands is an affiliate of Atlanta's private-equity firm Roark Capital Group.
BLOCKBUSTER SPINOFF DETAILS: Viacom Inc., the media conglomerate that owns CBS and MTV, took another step toward separating itself from Blockbuster Inc. on Wednesday, offering investors a financial incentive to buy shares of the slower-growing video rental unit. Viacom announced the ratio at which it would exchange its own shares for those of Blockbuster, enticing investors to make the deal by offering a premium of 19 percent, based on the closing values of the stocks Tuesday. Investors viewed the terms of the transaction as positive for Viacom. The company's shares were up 48 cents to close at $35.08 Wednesday on the New York Stock Exchange, while Blockbuster's were off 42 cents to close at $7.48.
Compiled from Times staff, wire and Bloomberg News reports.
