Five Below raises IPO range
Five Below Inc., the Philadelphia teen specialty retailer, increased the amount it's seeking to raise in its initial public offering by 21 percent to $163.5 million. The retailer and its investors are offering 9.62 million shares for $15 to $17 each, according to a regulatory filing Tuesday. They originally offered the shares for $12 to $14. Five Below's offering is scheduled to price July 19. The retailer plans to sell half of the stock in the offering, while the rest will be sold by owners including London-based private equity firm Advent International Corp. Advent will hold more than 50 percent of Five Below after the offering. The shares will be listed on the Nasdaq Stock Market under the symbol FIVE. — Bloomberg News
Groundbreaking for hotel complex
Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs will break ground Wednesday at its casino racetrack in Wilkes-Barre on a hotel and convention center. The $45 million, seven-story hotel with 238 rooms and convention space is scheduled to open in fall 2013. The casino's parent company, Mohegan Tribal Gaming Authority, also owns Mohegan Sun in Uncasville, Conn. — Suzette Parmley
ELSEWHERE
Humdrum earnings for Yahoo
Yahoo Inc. turned in another lackluster performance in the second quarter. The results underscore the challenges facing Yahoo's newly hired CEO, Marissa Mayer, as she tries to turn around the Internet company after a 13-year career as a top Google executive. Yahoo earned $227 million for the three months ending in June. That was down from net income of $237 million a year ago. Earnings per share for the quarter remained level at 18 cents per share. Analysts polled by FactSet had projected earnings of 20 cents per share. The numbers for the latest quarter were dragged down by a $136 million charge for employee layoffs. The company trimmed 1,500 people from its payroll to end June with 12,500 employees. If not for the severance charge and special tax provision, Yahoo said it would have earned 27 cents per share. Revenue for the period dipped 1 percent from last year to $1.22 billion. — AP
EU to probe Microsoft compliance
The European Union's executive body, the European Commission, said it was opening an investigation into whether Microsoft Corp. has kept the antitrust commitments it made in 2009, and warned that penalties for noncompliance would be "severe." Microsoft conceded it had "fallen short" of its obligation to provide the "browser choice screen," or BCS. The screen would allow users of Microsoft's Windows operating systems to select a browser other than Microsoft's Internet Explorer. "Due to a technical error, we missed delivering the BCS software to PCs that came with the service pack 1 update to Windows 7," Microsoft said in a statement. It said that PCs running the original version of Windows 7, as well as Windows XP and Windows Vista, did have the screen. EU Competition Commissioner Joaquin Almunia told reporters it appeared that the choice screen, promised by Microsoft in 2009 after an antitrust case, has not been provided since February 2011, meaning 28 million customers who should have seen it may not have. — AP
Intel sees slowing growth
Intel Corp., the world's largest chipmaker, said the weak global economy is slowing its growth, and revenue for the current quarter is likely to come in below Wall Street forecasts. Intel's second-quarter net income was $2.83 billion, or 54 cents per share. That was down from $2.95 billion, or 54 cents per share, a year earlier, as operating expenses rose faster than revenue. Intel has been buying back shares, accounting for the flat earnings per share. Analysts polled by FactSet were expecting earnings of 52 cents per share for the latest quarter. Revenue rose 3.6 percent to $13.5 billion. Analysts were expecting $13.54 billion. — Bloomberg News
Homebuilder confidence up
Confidence among U.S. homebuilders is swelling to a five-year high, with many now anticipating that sales of new homes will strengthen this year even as signs point to a slowing economy. The National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo builder sentiment index surged six points this month to 35, the highest reading since March 2007, the trade association said. The index, which is based on responses from 318 builders, rose from a reading of 29 last month, marking the largest one-month gain in nearly a decade. It has declined only once between January and July. Any reading below 50 indicates negative sentiment about the housing market. And the index hasn't reached that level since April 2006, the peak of the housing boom. — AP
Goldman Sachs' revenue, earnings fall
Another tough quarter, another reminder for Goldman Sachs Group Inc. that it's not just its reputation that's under attack. The once-mighty investment bank's revenue and earnings continue to decline even as it has resorted to massive job cuts and other steps to reduce costs in the past year. On Tuesday, the New York bank said its net income in the April-June period fell more than 11 percent to $962 million, or $1.78 per share. That compares with $1.09 billion, or $1.85 per share, a year ago. The earnings were higher than the $1.17 per share that analysts were expecting. Revenue fell 9 percent to $6.63 billion compared with the same period a year ago. — AP
Italy fears Sicily may default
Premier Mario Monti says he's "gravely concerned" that Italy's autonomous region of Sicily may soon default. Italian business groups, unions and politicians have been warning for more than a week that Sicily might become the "Greece of Italy," thanks to years of financial mismanagement that has recently come to light. Italian news reports say Sicily's government is $6.14 billion in the hole and may soon be unable to pay salaries and pensions. According to a statement from the premier's office, Monti sent a letter Tuesday to Sicily's regional president, Raffaele Lombardo, seeking confirmation that he would resign as promised July 31. He confirmed he would. — AP
Pilots authorize strike
Pilots at United Airlines say they could go on strike after two years of failed negotiations on a new contract at the airline, which was formed through a combination with Continental. The Air Line Pilots Association said that of the pilots who voted, 99 percent authorized a strike. Federal law includes many obstacles to strikes among airline workers, and the vote doesn't mean pilots will be walking off the job soon. United spokeswoman Megan McCarthy said the airline expected a strike vote, which is "not uncommon at this point in negotiations." — AP
