MEXICO CITY, Nov 12, 2002 (Cronica/Corporate Mexico by Internet Securities, Inc. via COMTEX) -- Pension fund administrator (Afore) Profuturo GNP will reduce the commissions it charges to its affiliates: from the 1.67% currently charged on the base salary and 0.70% per year on the administered balance, with the modification of incorporating discounts for all workers who stay in the Afore for five years or more. This discount will reduce the commission by 0.04% per year beginning on the fifth anniversary of membership to a minimum level of 1.27%, which will occur on the 14th anniversary. The change will benefit 2.9 million members.Also, the reduction in commissions on balances for the Specialized Investment Society for Pension Funds (Siefore) for voluntary contributions, which will fall from 3% to 1.98% per year. The changes will go into effect in January.
URL: www.securities.com Copyright 2002 Internet Securities, Inc., all rights reserved. A Euromoney Institutional Investor Company.
News Provided by COMTEX (http://www.comtexnews.com)
Aug. 10-- HOLLYWOOD'S NET LOSS INCREASES: Hollywood Entertainment's second quarter earnings show why the company is shuttering the Internet sales it once heralded at the company's Reel.com subsidiary.
On Wednesday, Wilsonville-based Hollywood -- the parent of Hollywood Video stores -- reported a net loss of $63.04 million, or $1.37 a share, on sales of $322.64 million for the quarter ended June 30. That compares with a net loss of $8.33 million, or 18 cents a share, on sales of $250.37 million in the year-ago quarter.
Hollywood's loss happened when a profit at its video rental stores was devoured by mounting debt at its Reel.com subsidiary. In the second quarter, Hollywood Video logged a profit of $6.5 million on sales of $310.66 million, compared with a profit of $9.4 million on sales of $241.98 million in the second quarter of 1999. But Reel.com lost $69.54 million on sales of $11.98 million in the just-ended quarter, a big drop from its net loss of $17.73 million on sales of $8.39 million last year.
But, $48.55 million of Reel.com's loss comes from a one-time charge Hollywood took to cover the costs of shutting down the subsidiary's Web-sales operation. Hollywood will still run the Reel.com Web site, but only as a marketing and information site. Mark Wattles, Hollywood chairman and chief executive officer, said that closing Reel.com will end a $5 million monthly cash drain and should make Hollywood a profitable company again.
WILSHIRE FINANCIAL SERVICES GROUP: Wilshire Financial Services Group earned $1.125 million, or 6 cents a share, in its second quarter ended June 30.
In the same period a year ago, excluding extraordinary gain on the extinguishment of debt and restructuring costs from the company's Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization, Wilshire Financial lost $5.5 million.
Wilshire Financial operates a Southern California thrift, it buys loans and residential mortgage-backed securities and it services sub-prime loans.
WAL-MART STORES: Wal-Mart Stores announced second-quarter results and said fiscal third-quarter profit will be less than analysts' forecasts as the world's largest retailer changes the way it accounts for goods bought on installment plans.
Second-quarter net income jumped 28 percent to $1.6 billion, or 36 cents a share, from $1.25 billion, or 28 cents a share, a year ago. Per-share profit matched the average estimate of analysts polled by First Call/Thomson Financial. Sales jumped 20 percent to $46.1 billion from $38.5 billion.
Wal-Mart dropped $4 to $53.63 on the New York Stock Exchange. Third-quarter profit will be about 31 cents a share, 2 cents below the average estimate of analysts polled by First Call. The shortfall will be made up in the fourth quarter, the company said.
Wal-Mart left its annual forecast unchanged. The average profit estimate of analysts for the year is $1.47 a share. Last year, Wal-Mart earned $5.38 billion, or $1.20 a share.
To see more of The Oregonian, or to subscribe the newspaper, go to http://www.oregonian.com
(c) 2000, The Oregonian, Portland, Ore. Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.
