Disney gains video game role; earnings

Disney buying gaming site

Disney says it is buying online social gaming company Playdom for more than $560 million.

It’s the latest sign the company is becoming a formidable player in the video game industry.

The Walt Disney Co. said Tuesday it is buying Playdom to strengthen its digital gaming portfolio. Disney says the purchase will help bring its characters, stories and brands to customers in new ways, through Facebook and MySpace.

EU approves airline merger

United Airlines and Continental Airlines Inc. won European Union antitrust approval for an all-stock merger that would create the world’s biggest airline.

The transaction won’t harm competition in the EU region, the European Commission said in a statement Tuesday.

The carriers have said all along that the combined airline’s CEO would be Continental chief Jeff Smisek, with United CEO Glenn Tilton as chairman. On Tuesday, they named the eight executives under Smisek, with four from each airline.

Earnings reports

•Lexmark International Inc., the maker of laser and inkjet printers that is buying Perceptive Software, posted second-quarter revenue and profit that topped analysts’ estimates on improving equipment and services sales. Net income rose to $85.1 million, or $1.07 a share, from $17 million, or 22 cents, a year earlier.

•Lockheed Martin Corp. said second-quarter profit jumped 12 percent and increased its outlook for full-year earnings as sales at its space and information-systems units picked up. Net income rose to $825 million, or $2.22 a share, from $734 million, or $1.88, a year earlier.

•Occidental Petroleum Corp. posted a smaller profit increase than analysts predicted as output fell short of the company’s forecast.

Second-quarter net income climbed 56 percent to $1.1 billion, or $1.31 a share, from $682 million, or 84 cents, a year earlier.

•Office Depot Inc. said it reduced its net loss to $9.49 million, or 7 cents a share, from $82.1 million, or 31 cents, a year earlier. Sales fell 4.4 percent to $2.7 billion in the 13 weeks that ended June 26.

• U.S. Steel Corp. posted a second-quarter loss after revaluing a $1.4 billion loan made to a European unit. The net loss narrowed to $25 million, or 17 cents a share, from $392 million, or $2.92, a year earlier.

•Valero Energy Corp. posted its first profit in five quarters as demand for fuel increased. Net income for the second quarter was $583 million, or $1.04 a share, compared with a loss of $254 million, or 48 cents, a year earlier.

| Star news services

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