IN BRIEF

WMS Industries profits increase by 40 percent

WMS Industries, a Waukegan, Ill., slot machine maker, on Thursday said that its quarterly net income rose 40 percent, buoyed by higher sales.

In a statement, the company said it earned $12.9 million, or 34 cents per share, in the three months ended March 31, up from $9.2 million, or 26 cents per share, a year earlier.

The results matched the average Wall Street estimate of 34 cents a share, as compiled by Reuters Estimates.

Revenue rose 23 percent to $136.6 million. A 28 percent increase in North American new unit shipments and a 16 percent increase in international unit shipments helped boost revenue.

ATLANTA

Delta shares fall below projections in return

Delta Air Lines' new shares began their first trading day on the New York Stock Exchange on Thursday at a price below the company's initial projection.

The Atlanta-based company's shares opened their first public trading day since Delta exited bankruptcy on Monday at $21.75. That pegged Delta's initial market value at $8.7 billion based on the 400 million shares Delta planned to issue.

Delta shares fell from the opening trade to finish the day at $20.72, dropping Delta's market value to $8.3 billion.

The initial market value was short of the $9.4 billion to $12 billion that Delta had projected in its reorganization plan that it would be worth when it emerged from bankruptcy.

LOS ANGELES

No bids issued for New Century Financial

Financially strapped subprime mortgage lender New Century Financial Corp., failed to receive any bids for its mortgage loan origination business, forcing it to shut down the unit and lay off around 2,000 employees, the company told employees Thursday.

The Irvine, Calif.-based company, which has been preparing to sell off its assets under Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection since last month, told employees during a conference call that they would be laid off effective today.

The deadline for bids for the business unit was Wednesday.

General Motors profits decrease by 90 percent

General Motors Corp. on Thursday said its first-quarter earnings fell 90 percent, hurt by restructuring costs and losses from its mortgage lending business.

The company lost its long-standing place as the world's largest automaker during the quarter, as Japan's Toyota Motor Corp. edged past GM in global sales for the first time.

GM's first-quarter net profit of $62 million, or 11 cents a share, was down from $602 million, or $1.06 a share, a year earlier. Many analysts had expected the company to do much better.

Exclusive of one-time items, GM said it would have earned 17 cents a share, or $94 million, but Thompson Financial said its poll of analysts expected earnings of 87 cents a share.

Revenue fell 16.2 percent to $43.9 billion from $52.4 billion.

Beasley Broadcast posts lower income

Beasley Broadcast Group, a Naples, Fla., radio station operator with four Southern Nevada stations, said its net income fell 31.3 percent from a year earlier.

In a statement late Wednesday, the company said its net income was $1.1 million, or 5 cents per share, for the three months ended March 31, down from net income of $1.6 million, or 7 cents per share, a year earlier.

Revenue rose 13.7 percent to $30.8 million from $27.1 million.

In Las Vegas, Beasley Broadcast operates stations KDWN-AM (720), KKLZ-FM (96.3), KSTJ-FM (102.7) and KYCE-FM (104.3).

NEW YORK

Bond prices dip ahead of payrolls report

U.S. Treasury bond prices fell Thursday, weighed down by investor positioning ahead of today's nonfarm payrolls report.

At 5 p.m. EDT, the 10-year Treasury note was down $2.19 per $1,000 in face value, or 0.22 points, from its level at 5 p.m. Wednesday. Its yield, which moves in the opposite direction, rose to 4.67 percent from 4.65 percent.

The 30-year bond fell 0.31 points. Its yield rose to 4.84 percent from 4.82 percent.