BRIEFCASE.

Byline: - Staff and Wire Services

$855 billion value of county property

The total value of Los Angeles County real estate rose last year to $855 billion, up 9.5 percent from the year before, according to the assessor's preliminary annual report Tuesday.

The latest numbers, representing more than 2.3 million properties, exclude exempt land and utilities, which are assessed by the state, said Los Angeles County Assessor Rick Auerbach.

Final figures and a breakout of valuations in individual cities is due by the end of the month.

Acxiom to lay off 250 to cut costs

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - Data broker Acxiom Corp., which is the target of a possible takeover, announced Tuesday its first-quarter profits would fall short of expectations and the company will lay off 250 employees as part of a larger plan to cut annual costs by some $60 million.

The Little Rock-based company also plans to sell or close some operations.

Anti-spyware set of guidelines out

PHILADELPHIA - Calling spyware ``a global scourge that's reached epidemic proportions,'' a coalition of technology companies and public-interest groups on Tuesday announced a set of guidelines and definitions that it hopes will aid everyone from makers of anti-spyware programs to consumers with infected computers.

The Anti-Spyware Coalition's new guidelines arrive amid growing recognition of spyware, and as companies that market ad-delivery software known as adware are trying aggressively to distance themselves from the ``spyware'' label.

In its broadest sense, spyware encompasses programs that sneak onto computers and perform secretive tasks such as tracking online activity.

The Anti-Spyware Coalition, which includes virtually all the leading computer security companies, is seeking public comment on its new guidelines. To see them or to weigh in, go to www.antispywarecoalition.org.

PepsiCo reports 13% boost in Q2

NEW YORK - Soft drink and snack food maker PepsiCo Inc. on Tuesday reported a 13 percent rise in second-quarter earnings, driven by strength in China and other developing markets as well as strong domestic sales of cereal and pasta in its Quaker Foods business.

The company, which also owns Frito-Lay snacks, said it would bolster investment in its North American beverage business and overseas in order to revive sluggish soda sales. The increased spending on new products comes as PepsiCo and archrival Coca-Cola Co. each grapple with declining soda sales, as global consumers are increasingly drawn to coffee, tea and juice items.

BofA might offer refunds to seniors

Bank of America Corp. is expected to announce today that it will offer refunds to elderly customers across the country who bought variable annuities over the past two years, in a major concession to Massachusetts regulators who have been investigating whether senior citizens were sold inappropriate investments.

The agreement will affect thousands of Bank of America customers around the country who were 78 or older at the time they bought the annuities in 2003 and 2004, said Massachusetts Secretary of State William F. Galvin.

Given Bank of America's size and stature in the industry, the agreement could serve as an expensive template of future settlements with other firms whose sales tactics to elderly customers are under investigation by Galvin and regulators in other states. Bank of America declined to provide an estimate of how many elderly customers bought the annuities nationwide, or how much it might have to refund.