BRIEFCASE ROY DISNEY IN DEAL WITH CREDIT SUISSE.

Byline: - Staff and Wire Services

BURBANK - Roy E. Disney announced Wednesday that a family trust he established has entered into what is essentially a forward sale of a portion of the shares in The Walt Disney Co. held by the trust.

The vice chairman of The Walt Disney Co. and chairman of Shamrock Holdings Inc. said he decided on the ``variable prepaid forward'' transaction with Credit Suisse First Boston because he ``wanted to emphasize his continued dedication to the company.''

Northrop to rebuy its common stock

CENTURY CITY - Northrop Grumman Corp.'s board on Wednesday approved a share repurchase program of up to $700 million of its outstanding common stock and declared quarterly dividends on its common and preferred stock.

``Today's decision reflects our high degree of confidence in the company's operations, financial performance and outlook,'' said Chief Executive Officer and President Ronald D. Sugar.

Share purchases will take place at management's discretion from time to time, depending on market conditions, in the open market and in privately negotiated transactions over the next 18 months, he said.

The company will primarily use cash from operations to finance the repurchase.

As of July 31, Northrop Grumman had about 183 million shares outstanding.

Hot Topic posts record earnings

CITY OF INDUSTRY - Hot Topic Inc., a mall-based specialty retailer of music-licensed and music-influenced apparel, accessories and gift items for teens, on Wednesday reported record results for the second quarter ended Aug. 2.

Net income increased to $5.9 million, or 18 cents, per diluted share from $4.3 million, or 13 cents per diluted share, for the second quarter of the past fiscal year.

Net sales for the quarter increased 25 percent to $115.7 million from $92.5 million in the year-ago period.

At the end of the quarter, the company operated 497 stores, including 40 Torrid stores, compared with 415 stores, including 14 Torrid stores, a year ago.

For the first 26 weeks of fiscal 2003, net income was $10.3 million, or 32 cents per diluted share, compared with $8 million, or 24 cents per diluted share, for the comparable period last year.

The company previously reported net sales for the 26 weeks of $216.4 million vs. $172.4 million in the comparable year-ago period.

Hewlett-Packard shares down 10%

SAN JOSE - Hewlett-Packard Co. shares sank 10 percent Wednesday on disappointing third-quarter earnings and sales as the computer giant struggled with weak demand and fierce competition from rival PC makers.

For the three months ended July 31, Palo Alto, Calif.-based HP reported earnings late Tuesday of $297 million, or 10 cents per share, compared with a loss of $2.03 billion, or 67 cents per share, in the same period last year. Excluding special items, HP earned $700 million, or 23 cents per share. That compares with a profit of $420 million, or 14 cents per share, in the third quarter of fiscal 2002. Third-quarter revenue was $17.35 billion, up 4.9 percent from $16.54 billion posted in the same period last year.

'For sale' placard on Enron building

HOUSTON - The ``For sale'' sign is going up at Enron Corp.'s headquarters.

Granite Partners LLC, a New York real estate investment banking firm, announced Wednesday that it's been retained to sell the 50-story glass tower at a time when top-notch office space in downtown Houston is cheap and plentiful.

Richard Rudd, senior managing director for Granite Partners' Houston office, said he hopes to close a sale on the 1.2 million-square-foot headquarters by December. No firm price is being set for the building; Rudd said the firm will wait to see what people are willing to pay. The local county government values the building at $92.5 million.