DECISION FAVORS TRUMP

A judge dealt another favorable hand to Trump Hotels & Casino Resorts yesterday, giving final approval to a $100 million “debtor in possession” loan and setting a date for a confirmation hearing that would formally end the company’s Chapter 11 case.

Fending off objections from shareholders, Bankruptcy Judge Judith Wizmur approved the loan by Dallas-based Beal Bank, without which Donald Trump’s three Atlantic City casinos would have had to shut down for lack of cash, according to Mr. Trump’s lawyers.

The money, $36 million of which has already been drawn down by the company, is paying salaries, vendors, and other operating expenses as Trump Hotels moves toward the confirmation hearing scheduled to begin March 29.

After months of negotiations with bondholders, Trump Hotels filed for bankruptcy court protection November 21 with a prepackaged plan that calls for the bondholders to take control of the company but Trump to stay on as chairman and CEO. His stake would drop to about 26%, while bondholders would control two-thirds of the equity in the reorganized company.

– Associated Press

CONSUMERS SPUR SALES

Consumers lured by clearance sales and a fresh assortment of spring clothes gave many of the nation’s retailers solid sales in January and hopes for even stronger business in the months ahead.

As merchants released their results Thursday, a diverse group of retailers had sales that beat Wall Street expectations, including clothing stores Abercrombie & Fitch and Talbots Inc., department store chain J.C. Penney Company Incorporated and discounter Target Corporated. Luxury stores such as Neiman Marcus Group again reported sales that surpassed Wall Street estimates.

The International Council of Shopping Centers-UBS sales tally of 72 retailers rose 3.6% in January, higher than the 2.5% forecast. The tally is based on same-store sales, which are sales at stores opened at least a year, considered the best indicator of a retailer’s health.

– Associated Press

HEALTHSOUTH INDICTMENT

Another former top HealthSouth Corporation executive was indicted Thursday for what prosecutors say was his part in a massive fraud as jurors at Richard Scrushy’s trial watched a video of the former CEO exhorting, cajoling, and warning hundreds of employees at a 1998 meeting.

In a DVD recording played on a big screen near the witness stand, Scrushy excitedly talked about management’s “incredible control” of rehabilitation chain HealthSouth and his own close watch over the company’s finances and expenses. As testimony in his criminal trial continued, the U.S. attorney announced that former HealthSouth president and director James P.Bennett had been indicted in the fraud, which prosecutors say overstated earnings by about $2.7 billion from 1996 to 2002.

– Associated Press