Business news in brief

— QUOTE OF THE DAY “It’s definitely good news to see exports increase.That means we’re producing something that the rest of the world is demanding.”Michael Pakko, chief economist, Institute for Economic Advancement at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock Article, 1DBeers’ alcohol overstated, suits say

PHILADELPHIA - Beer lovers have filed lawsuits accusing Anheuser-Busch of overstating the alcohol content of its Budweiser, Michelob and other brands.

The suits, filed in Pennsylvania, California and other states, claim consumers have been cheated out of the alcohol content stated on labels. Budweiser and Michelob each boast of being 5 percent alcohol, while some “light” versions are said to be just over 4 percent.

The lawsuits are based on information from former employees at the company’s 13 U.S. breweries, some in high-level plant positions, according to lead lawyer Josh Boxer of San Rafael, Calif.

“Our information comes from former employees at Anheuser-Busch, who have informed us that as a matter of corporate practice, all of their products mentioned [in the lawsuit] are watered down,” Boxer said. “It’s a simple costsaving measure, and it’s very significant.”

The excess water is added just before bottling and cuts the stated alcohol content, he said.

Anheuser-Busch InBev called the claims “groundless.”

“Our beers are in full compliance with all alcohol labeling laws. We proudly adhere to the highest standards in brewing our beers, which have made them the best-selling in the U.S. and the world,” Peter Kraemer, vice president of brewing and supply, said in a statement.

Music sales rise 1st time since ’99

PARIS - The music industry, the first media business to suffer from the evolution of digital recording, said Tuesday that its global sales rose last year for the first time since 1999.

The increase of 0.3 percent led to total revenue of $16.5 billion, less than half of the $38 billion the industry took in at its peak more than a decade ago.

“It’s clear that 2012 saw the global recording industry moving onto the road to recovery,” said Frances Moore, chief executive of the London-based International Federation of the Phonographic Industry. “There’s a palpable buzz in the air that I haven’t felt for a long time.”

Last year digital sales and other new sources of revenue finally grew significantly enough to offset the continuing decline in compact disc sales.

“At the beginning of the digital revolution it was common to say that digital was killing music,” said Edgar Berger, chief executive of the international arm of Sony Music Entertainment. “The reality is that digital is saving music.”Germany drafts rules for fracking

BERLIN - German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s government has agreed on draft regulation to allow the tapping of shale gas via fracking.

The legislation would outlaw hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, in water protection areas and near drinking water wells and would make environmental impact studies mandatory for new projects, Environment Minister Peter Altmaier and Economy Minister Philipp Roesler said in a joint letter obtained by Bloomberg News. The measures would permit the technique in nonrestricted areas and provide “a unified legal situation,” the ministers wrote.

“This offers a good perspective for the future even if we should wait to see the actual progress,” Roesler said in a e-mail statement Tuesday from his ministry in Berlin.

While fracking offers “significant opportunities, we must always keep in view possible effects on the environment.”

Germany sits on as much as 81 billion cubic feet of shale gas, enough to increase the current output of natural gas 100-fold, according to Volker Steinbach, the head of the natural resources department of the Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources.

Banks post 2nd best earnings in ’12U.S. banks had $141.3 billion in net income last year, the second-best on record behind the $145.2 billion total reported for 2006, on noninterest income and lower loss provisions, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. said.

Fourth-quarter net income was $34.7 billion, a 37 percent increase from the year-earlier period, the FDIC said Tuesday in its Quarterly Banking Profile. The total for the three-month period that ended Dec. 31 was a decline from $37.6 billion in the third quarter, the FDIC said.

Industry profits were widespread with 60 percent of banks reporting increases from the prior year even as interest-income margins tightened, according to the agency’s report. Lenders set aside $15.1 billion for bad loans - a 24.6 percent reduction from the year earlier - and the $18.6 billion in charge-offs marked the 10th consecutive quarter of declines.

Total loan balances rose $118.2 billion, or 1.6 percent, in the quarter, led by 3.7 percent growth in commercial loans, according to the FDIC.

  • Bloomberg NewsMacy’s quarterly profit tops forecast

NEW YORK - Macy’s reported a fourth-quarter profit Tuesday that beat Wall Street expectations as its strategy of tailoring merchandise to local markets paid off during the Christmas season.

The department-store chain, which also operates Bloomingdale’s stores, also said Tuesday that it expects that same strategy to help increase revenue at stores open at least a year by 3.5 percent in fiscal 2013. That’s on top of the increase of 3.7 percent for 2012. The measure is a key indicator of health because it strips out the effects of newly opened and closed locations.

Shares of Macy’s rose $1.07, or 2.8 percent, to close Tuesday at $39.59.

For the period ended Feb. 2, Macy’s Inc. says it earned $730 million, or $1.83 per share. That compares with $745 million, or $1.74 per share, a year earlier, when the company had more shares outstanding.

Not including one-time items such as expenses associated with the early retirement of debt, it earned $2.05 per share. Revenue was $9.35 billion, up from $8.72 billion a year ago.

Analysts expected a profit of $1.99 per share on revenue of $9.35 billion.

For the year, the company earned $3.24 per share on revenue of $27.69 billion. In 2013, the company expects earnings per share of $3.90 to $3.95.

-The Associated Press

Business, Pages 29 on 02/27/2013

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