BRIEFCASE DISNEY CONTENT ON ITS WAY TO ITALY.

Byline: - Staff and Wire Services

NORTH HOLLYWOOD - The Walt Disney Internet Group announced Tuesday it has entered into a content agreement with TIM to bring Disney Mobile branded wireless content to Italian consumers.

TIM will be the first distributor in Italy for a range of Disney's wireless content, including ring tones, logos, screen-savers, wallpapers, picture messages and games based on Disney's lineup of characters.

The content will be regularly updated to include characters from future Disney movie releases.

Newhall Land ups estimated income

VALENCIA - The Newhall Land and Farming Company on Tuesday increased the company's estimated per-unit net income for 2002 to be in the range of $1.62 to $1.67 per unit, compared with $3.56 per unit in 2001.

Net income for 2002 is expected to include the sale of 1,330 residential lots, 66 net acres of commercial land and three net acres of industrial land.

Combined, those sales are expected to contribute $165 million to revenues and $65.7 million to income in 2002.

Net income for 2001 included the sales of 232 residential lots, about 92 acres of commercial and industrial land, the sales of the Town Center Plaza mixed-use building, Bank of America Building, Chiquita Canyon Landfill and the company's option to purchase 1,800 acres in Broomfield, Colo.

Combined, those sales added $174.2 million to revenues and $115.5 million to income in 2001.

Toy firm FAO Inc. eyes bankruptcy

KING OF PRUSSIA, Pa. - Toy company FAO Inc. said Tuesday it ``likely'' will file for bankruptcy protection if its bank does not relax borrowing restrictions.

FAO, which owns toy retailers FAO Schwarz, Zany Brainy and The Right Start, said in a statement that it had asked Wells Fargo Retail Finance LLC to ease the recently imposed restrictions.

FAO said there had been a ``rapid deterioration'' in the company's ability to obtain sufficient liquidity.

Calabasas toy retailer The Right Start Inc. changed its name to FAO Inc. and purchased the FAO Schwarz brand earlier this year for about $55 million and bought Zany Brainy last year for $100 million.

Ex-Tyco director enters fraud plea

NEW YORK - A former Tyco International director who secretly reaped millions while orchestrating a company acquisition pleaded guilty to securities fraud Tuesday and agreed to pay restitution and a fine.

Frank E. Walsh, 61, admitted that he failed to tell his own board of directors that the manufacturing conglomerate was paying $20 million in ``finder's fees'' in exchange for his help in brokering Tyco's 2001 acquisition of CIT Group, a financial services company.

As part of a plea deal with the Manhattan district attorney, Walsh agreed to repay Tyco the entire $20 million, and pay a fine of $2.5 million.

Six on WorldCom board step down

JACKSON, Miss. - Six of WorldCom Inc.'s 11 board members resigned Tuesday, ridding the bankrupt telecommunications giant of the last group of directors who were present when it racked up its stunning $9 billion accounting fraud.

A seventh board member resigned last week. That leaves only new Chairman and CEO Michael Capellas and three outside directors named just after WorldCom - parent of MCI, the nation's No. 2 long-distance telephone service provider - filed the largest-ever U.S. bankruptcy in July.

Tuesday's resignations, coming just two weeks after Capellas took the helm, include WorldCom's former chairman, Bert C. Roberts Jr., and former acting CEO John W. Sidgmore, both of whom are expected to remain as consultants.

Year's economy is little changed

WASHINGTON - The economy is closing out the year much as it began: The housing industry posted another strong construction gain in November while U.S. factories struggled to show a tiny increase after three months of weakness.

But another report says inflation's no-show may allow the Federal Reserve, whose interest rate cuts have fueled both the housing and auto booms, to cut rates further. Consumer prices rose just 0.1 percent last month as a big drop in energy costs helped offset a sharp rise in medical costs.

The flurry of reports suggested that the economy may be finding its way through what Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan has termed a soft patch.