Business news in brief

Wyeth Inc.

and other drug companies can be held liable for inadequate warning labels issued by generic manufacturers of their drugs, a California appeals court ruled. Wyeth has major operations in the Philadelphia area. The appeals court reversed a lower-court ruling that dismissed the case before trial. The duty of name-brand prescription drug manufacturers to "use due care" in product warnings "extends not only to consumers of its own product, but also to those whose doctors foreseeably rely on the name-brand manufacturer's product information . . . even if the prescription is filled with the generic version of the prescribed drug," the appeals court ruled. Wyeth "disagrees with the reasoning of the court, which rejects a long line of cases . . .," Doug Petkus, a Wyeth spokesman, said, adding Wyeth would appeal the ruling.

- Bloomberg News

The crumbling economy and regional competition continued to batter Atlantic City's casinos. The 11 gambling halls reported a 9.9 percent decrease in revenue last month compared with a year ago.Monthly gaming revenue there has been down seven of the last 10 months. Total revenue dropped to $346.3 million last month from $384.4 million in October 2007, according to figures released by the

New Jersey Casino Control Commission

. This month, the four Harrah's Entertainment Inc. Atlantic City casinos - Bally's, Showboat, Harrah's Resort and Caesars - and the Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa announced they were laying off hundreds of workers due to shrinking business volume. For the first 10 months of this year, the casinos made $3.9 billion in revenue, down 6.6 percent from the same period in 2007.

- Suzette Parmley

Shares in

PHH Corp.

, a Mount Laurel company that operates in the mortgage industry and in vehicle leasing, fell more than 14 percent, or $1.06, to $6.32 yesterday after the company said its third-quarter loss widened from the same period a year ago. The bulk of this year's third-quarter loss of $84 million, or $1.56 per share, came from a $61 million charge to write down goodwill in PHH Home Loans, a joint venture of PHH and Realogy Corp., owner of Century 21, Coldwell Banker and other real estate brokerage brands. Realogy's corporate credit rating was lowered to junk status Friday by Standard & Poor's. PHH, a private-label mortgage originator, closed $7.85 billion in loans in the third quarter, down 23 percent from $10.18 billion in last year's third quarter. The loss last year was $38 million, or 69 cents per share.

- Harold Brubaker

Peco

requested bids by renewable-energy producers to sell alternative-energy credits to help the Philadelphia utility meet a state mandate. The company recently agreed to buy 240,000 credits that resulted from a similar request for bids in March. Those credits will be purchased over the next five years. Pennsylvania's Alternative Energy Portfolio Standards require 3.5 percent of the energy sold to Peco customers be made up by 2011 of energy generated from renewable resources such as wind, low-impact hydroelectric, methane, geothermal, biomass, or fuel cells, as measured by alternative energy credits. Each megawatt-hour sold by a renewable energy generator equals one credit. The company serves 1.6 million electric and 480,000 natural gas customers in southeastern Pennsylvania.

- Paul Schweizer

A.C. Moore Arts & Crafts Inc.

reported a third-quarter net loss of $7.5 million, or 37 cents per share, compared with a net loss of $600,000, or 3 cents per share, in the third quarter of 2007. Results from this year's third quarter, which ended Sept. 30, included charges related to a deferred tax valuation allowance of $0.23, and store closing costs of $0.03 per share. Third-quarter sales were down 4.9 percent, to $116.7 million, from $122.6 million in the comparable period. The Berlin crafts retailer said that same-store sales were down 9.4 percent from that same year-ago period. Shares closed down 26.1 percent, or 48 cents, at $1.36.

- Roslyn Rudolph

CC Media Holdings Inc.,

the parent of radio broadcaster Clear Channel Communications Inc., reported a third-quarter loss as advertisers held back spending. The net loss of $90.2 million compares with a profit of $279.7 million a year earlier, San Antonio-based CC Media Holdings said in a statement distributed by Business Wire. Clear Channel owns six radio stations in Philadelphia; its spinoff Live Nation Inc., a concert producer and promoter, owns Philadelphia's Boyd Theater, which it is reportedly selling. Sales at the largest U.S. radio broadcaster fell 3.8 percent to $1.7 billion on declines in radio and outdoor advertising. CC Media became Clear Channel's parent with the company's $17.9 billion buyout by private equity firms Bain Capital Partners LLC and Thomas H. Lee Partners LP in July. Shares closed down 50 cents, or 12.5 percent, at $3.50.

- Bloomberg News

Banco Santander's

plan to raise $9.2 billion in a rights offer comes less than two weeks after Spain's biggest bank said it had no need to raise capital. Santander is the biggest shareholder of

Sovereign Bancorp,

and is buying the remainder of the Philadelphia-area bank. Santander joins banks across Europe that are turning to investors to replenish capital.

- Bloomberg News

Interest rates on short-term Treasury bills fell in yesterday's auction with three-month bills dropping to the lowest level on record. The

Treasury Department

auctioned $27 billion in three-month bills at a discount rate of 0.355 percent, down from 0.530 percent last week. Another $27 billion in six-month bills was auctioned at a discount rate of 0.990 percent, down from 1.100 percent last week. The discount rates reflect that the bills sell for less than face value. For a $10,000 bill, the three-month price was $9,991.03 while a six-month bill sold for $9,949.95.

- AP

The

Federal Reserve

said yesterday that the average yield for one-year Treasury bills, a popular index for making changes in adjustable-rate mortgages, fell to 1.24 percent last week from 1.44 percent the previous week.

- AP