BRIEFCASE.

Byline: - Staff and Wire Services

DreamWorks Inc. clears SEC probe

GLENDALE - DreamWorks Animation SKG Inc. said Thursday that the staff of the Securities and Exchange Commission has ended its informal investigation of stock trades at the company and recommended that the commission take no enforcement action.

The SEC began its informal inquiry into stock trades at the Glendale- based computer animated film company in July 2005. The investigation concerned stock trades around DreamWorks Animation's disclosure of its first-quarter 2005 financial results last May 10.

DreamWorks' shares slipped 12 cents in after-hours trading to $27.68, after rising 43 cents, or 1.6 percent, to close Thursday at $27.80 on the New York Stock Exchange.

Gemstar TV Guide makes a profit

Los Angeles-based Gemstar TV Guide International Inc., publisher of TV Guide magazine, swung to a profit in the first quarter despite continuing losses in its publishing division.

The company, which also licenses searchable program guide technology to cable and satellite TV companies and television makers, reported net income for the three months ended March 31 of $8.6 million, or 2 cents per share, compared with a loss of $3.7 million, or 1 cent per share, for the same period last year.

Revenue dropped to $144 million from $164 million in the same period last year.

The results beat expectations of analysts who had been looking for earnings of 1 cent per share, according to Thomson Financial.

The company reported increased advertising and subscription revenue from its TV Guide channel and a 20 percent jump in revenue from licensing its interactive program guide.

Enron trial nears final testimony

HOUSTON - The fraud and conspiracy trial of Enron Corp. founder Kenneth Lay and former Chief Executive Jeffrey Skilling is winding down, with one more week of testimony on the horizon.

The defense teams aim to rest their case Monday or Tuesday, followed by what prosecutors said would be up to 10 rebuttal witnesses. Then jurors are to begin deliberations May 17 after hearing a dozen hours of closing arguments.

Kodak may drop health-imaging

ROCHESTER, N.Y. - Eastman Kodak Co., undergoing a rough transition to digital photography, said Thursday that it was considering the sale of its fabled health-imaging business after reporting a $298 million loss in the first quarter - its sixth straight quarterly loss.

Created a year after the discovery of X-ray film in 1895, the unit accounts for nearly one-fifth of Kodak's overall sales but its operating profit plunged 21 percent last year as margins tightened. A sale would wipe out most or all of Kodak's $2.6 billion in debt, analysts noted.