By The Associated Press

Thursday, August 19, 2010 at 4:49 p.m.

SAN FRANCISCO ?
China-based solar cell maker Yingli Green Energy Holding Co. said Thursday that it earned a profit in the second quarter as revenue from sales of its photovoltaic modules jumped.

Yingli earned 217.8 million renminbi ($32.1 million), or 1.46 renminbi (21 cents) per American depositary share in the quarter. That compares with a loss of 393.7 million renminbi, or 3.03 renminbi per ADS, in the same quarter a year earlier.

Analysts expected a profit of 19 cents per share.

Revenue rose to 2.70 billion renminbi ($398.1 million) from 1.50 billion renminbi in the year-ago quarter. Analysts had been looking for $371.1 million.

Yingli saw a large increase in sales of photovoltaic modules — revenue rose to 2.66 renminbi ($391.6 million) from 1.46 billion renminbi in the previous year.

Research and development expenses fell to 38.8 million renminbi ($5.7 million) from 46.1 million renminbi last year but total operating expenses climbed, rising to 339.7 million renminbi ($50.1 million) from 189.5 million renminbi last year. The company said this was due mostly to higher selling expenses that stemmed from its sponsorship of the 2010 FIFA World Cup and higher research and development expenses.

Yingli’s ADS fell 10 cents to $10.87 in after-hours trading, after finishing regular trading down 48 cents, or 4.3 percent, at $10.77.

By The Associated Press

Thursday, August 5, 2010 at 12:39 p.m.

NEW YORK ?
Hugh Hefner’s Playboy media empire managed to narrow its losses in the most recent quarter. But only because it booked fewer one-time expenses.

Revenue from the company’s flagship magazine and its TV operations continued to erode, a trend that has put Playboy’s future in question.

The company said it continued to cut staff during the quarter. It eliminated 18 jobs, bringing the total down to about 550.

Playboy Enterprises Inc. announced in July that Hefner was proposing to buy the portion of the company he doesn’t already own. FriendFinder Networks Inc., the corporate parent of rival Penthouse magazine, also made a bid to take the company private.

Playboy’s board is considering both offers. But, because Hefner holds about 70 percent of the company’s voting shares, he will make the final call.

Playboy said Hefner has made it clear he doesn’t want to sell.

The second-quarter results released Thursday illustrate Playboy’s struggle to turn a profit as the Web supplants print and TV as a source of adult content.

The company reported a net loss of $5.4 million, or 16 cents per share, for the three months that ended June 30. A year earlier, it lost $8.7 million, or 26 cents per share.

But last year’s quarter included $9.1 million in one-time restructuring costs, largely expenses related to closing its New York offices. The most recent quarter included only $1.6 million in such charges.

Revenue dropped 10 percent to $56 million.

Revenue fell at the U.S. version of Playboy magazine by 38 percent to $10.2 million, in part because it comes out less frequently. Counting international and special editions as well as online operations, revenue at the company’s print/digital segment fell 26 percent to $20.9 million.

TV revenue slipped 5 percent to $22.7 million.

The one upbeat note came from Playboy’s licensing division, which leases out the Playboy name and iconic bunny ears for consumer products. Licensing revenue climbed 23 percent to $12.4 million.

Playboy shares slipped 4 cents to $5.35 in afternoon trading.

WASHINGTON
- Job openings dropped in May from the previous month and layoffs edged up, fresh evidence that employers are reluctant to add workers.

The decline in job openings comes after a sharp rise the previous two months, driven by temporary government hiring for the 2010 census and more openings in the private sector. As a result, the number of available jobs has rebounded since the depths of the recession but remains well below pre-recession levels.

The Labor Department said Tuesday that job openings fell to 3.2 million in May from 3.3 million in the previous month. April’s upwardly revised figure was the highest in 18 months.

The department’s report, known as the Job Openings and Labor Turnover survey, illustrates how competitive the job market is. There were about 4.7 unemployed people, on average, for each job opening in May. That’s down from the peak of 6.3 last November, but is much higher than the 1.8 unemployed per opening when the recession began in December 2007.

May’s job openings are 37 percent above the low point of 2.3 million openings in July 2009. But the figure is still far below pre-recession levels of about 4.5 million.

And the improvement in some industries is slowing. Manufacturing, for example, saw openings rise by only 1,000 in May to 196,000. That compares to average gains of 14,000 in the previous three months.

Retailers cut their job openings in April and May, after increasing them in the previous three months. Many retailers boosted hiring earlier this year after a successful winter holiday shopping season, but have cut back as consumer spending remains weak.

Layoffs increased by about 100,000 to 1.9 million in May, the department said, but remain at pre-recession levels. The department said layoffs rose to a peak of 2.6 million in January 2009.

One reason hiring is weak is that small businesses, which create about 60 percent of new jobs, are having trouble getting the credit they need to expand and hire more workers.