BRIEFCASE NEPTUNE SOCIETY KILLS SELL-OFF PLAN.

Byline: - Staff and Wire Services

SHERMAN OAKS - The Neptune Society Inc., one of the country's largest publicly traded cremation specialists, announced Wednesday that a letter of intent to sell substantially all of its operating assets has been terminated.

The proposed deal with The Apogee Cos. Inc. ``was subject to certain conditions which were not satisfied or waived,'' and Neptune Society and Apogee agreed to terminate the plan, according to Sherman Oaks-based Neptune.

The Neptune Society said it ``intends to operate its business consistent with past practice and explore new opportunities for strategic growth.''

Job fair planned in Pacoima today

PACOIMA - The Valley Economic Development Center will host a job fair today, using its Pacoima Workforce Development Initiative to allow companies to screen prospective employees.

The job fair is 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Pacoima Community Center, 11243 Glenoaks Blvd. Employers will include Federal Express, Wal-Mart, the United States Postal Service, Northeast Valley Health Corp., Royal Staffing, Intercon Security and Sears.

City National sees Q3 earnings rise

City National Corp., the Los Angeles-based parent company of City National Bank, reported record net income Wednesday of $52.5 million, or $1.05 per share, for the third quarter.

The company's net income was $48.7 million, or 94 cents per share, for the third quarter of 2002.

For the first nine months of 2003, City National reported net income of $142.2 million, or $2.85 per share, compared with $138.7 million, or $2.69 per share for the comparable period last year.

Universal Music plans more layoffs

SANTA MONICA - Universal Music Group announced Wednesday that it will lay off 800 staffers worldwide in a cost-cutting plan that will impact 190 employees in the United States and Canada.

UMG, which also has domestic headquarters in New York City and Nashville, declined to say how many of its employees in Santa Monica would be let go or even how many employees work there. The cuts are expected to be affect employees at all levels.

So far this year, 550 employees have been laid off from the world's largest music company. Those reductions and the upcoming layoffs are expected to save the company about $200 million, a UMG spokesman said.

Insurer discount unfair, judge told

SACRAMENTO - Consumer advocates are asking a judge to overturn a new law that allows discounts for longtime auto insurance customers who change insurers, saying the statute violates Proposition 103 and discriminates against newly insured drivers.

Proposition 103, approved by California voters in 1988, requires auto insurers to base their rates mostly on a motorist's experience, safety record and miles driven. It specifically bars using the fact that a driver has had a break in coverage or hasn't had insurance before as factors in determining rates. The state insurance commissioner has ruled that prohibition doesn't stop companies from offering so-called persistency discounts to their own longtime customers.

The new law, signed by Gov. Gray Davis on Sept. 2, allows an auto insurer to offer those discounts to new customers who have a record of maintaining coverage with a competitor.

Apple's earnings beat predictions

SAN JOSE - Boosted by strong sales of its popular music player and new computers, Apple Computer Inc. on Wednesday reported fourth-quarter earnings that narrowly beat Wall Street expectations.

For the three months ended Sept. 27, Cupertino-based Apple said it earned $44 million, or 12 cents per share, compared with a net loss of $45 million, or 13 cents per share, in the same period last year. Excluding a $6 million after-tax investment gain and a $9 million gain from a stock repurchasing agreement, Apple said it would have earned $29 million, or 8 cents per share.

Revenue for the quarter was $1.7 billion, up 19 percent from $1.44 billion a year ago. Analysts surveyed by Thomson First Call had projected earnings of 7 cents a share on revenue of $1.67 billion.

World PC demand rebounds sharply

SAN JOSE - Driven by strong consumer demand and the popularity of notebook computers, worldwide PC shipments showed double-digit growth in the third quarter, two market research firms announced Wednesday.

According to preliminary results from Gartner Inc., worldwide PC shipments totaled 42.5 million units, a jump of more than 14 percent over the same period last year. Another firm, IDC, reported worldwide shipments of 38.4 million units, an increase of 15.7 percent.

But the notebook industry could end up being a victim of its own success. Strong sales are contributing to tightening supplies, and that could drive up prices over the next several months and hurt demand.

Retail sales drop slightly in August

WASHINGTON - America's shoppers took a bit of a breather in September, dropping sales at the nation's retailers by 0.2 percent.

Although the dip in retail sales reported by the Commerce Department on Wednesday was the first since April, it came after consumers, aided by President George W. Bush's third tax cut, went on a buying binge in July and August.

Retail sales went up by a strong 1.4 percent in July and then by 1.2 percent in August, according to revised figures. The increase in August's sales turned out to be two times bigger than the 0.6 percent rise that the government first reported a month ago, and the advance in July also was slightly larger than previously estimated.

Big Blue's profits soar 37 percent

NEW YORK - Bountiful services contracts helped third-quarter profits at IBM Corp. match analysts' expectations Wednesday, and the technology bellwether offered an unusual dose of optimism about the industry's prospects for a turnaround.

In the three-month period that ended Sept. 30, IBM had net earnings of $1.79 billion, or $1.02 per share, a 37 percent gain from the comparable period in 2002, when Big Blue showed profits of $1.31 billion, or 76 cents per share.

Revenue jumped about 9 percent to $21.52 billion in the third quarter, from $19.82 billion a year ago, though the gain would have been 4 percent without currency fluctuations. The comparison figure from 2002 excludes discontinued operations such as the disk-drive business IBM sold to Hitachi Ltd.

Jury considering Quattrone's fate

NEW YORK - Frank Quattrone's obstruction trial went to a jury Wednesday, with prosecutors and the defense offering two different ideas of what the star banker was thinking when he urged employees to destroy files.

The government made a final argument to convince jurors Quattrone intended to block two federal investigations into how his bank, Credit Suisse First Boston, doled out shares of hot new stocks during the Internet boom.

But Quattrone's attorney urged the jurors not to believe the arguments of prosecutors who are ``trying to tap into the hatred and prejudice that people feel for corporate executives these days.''

On Dec. 5, 2000, Quattrone forwarded an e-mail written by a subordinate urging employees to ``catch up on file cleanup'' and destroy some documents. Quattrone added his own strong endorsement.