Business news in brief

An Ohio man has been charged with defrauding his employer, Ametek Inc., of Berwyn, of at least $659,731 between January 2006 and November 2012 by submitting doctored receipts for reimbursement, the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania announced. Christopher Stehm, 51, of Mason, Ohio, allegedly altered receipts using scissors and Wite-out to obtain reimbursements for expenses that he either never incurred or that were personal, law enforcement officials said. Among them were repairs to his personal cars, private meals, and the purchase of a family dog, the criminal complaint said. - Harold Brubaker

Penn National Gaming Inc., which is competing with two other companies to build a casino in southern Maryland outside Washington, said that if it won the license it would give all of its profits during the first 15 years of operation to its host, Prince George's County. The Wyomissing, Pa., company, which is also bidding for Philadelphia's second casino license, estimated that it would distribute an estimated $319 million from the proposed $700 million casino at Rosecroft Raceway to pay for a new neighborhood health-care system, create a supplemental retirement plan for Prince George's County educators, and fund nonprofits in the region. In Philadelphia, Penn National has proposed a casino that would be two-thirds owned by a nonprofit that would eventually funnel $20 million a year to education and pension funds in the city. - Harold Brubaker

SAP AG, the business software maker with U.S. headquarters in Newtown Square, reported higher earnings on rising cloud and database revenue, alleviating investor concerns that stiffer competition is hurting profitability. Third-quarter operating profit adjusted for some items rose 5 percent to 1.3 billion euros ($1.8 billion), also helped by lower costs, Walldorf, Germany-based SAP said. The company kept its full-year forecasts when excluding currency swings. Shares in New York rose $2.66, or 3.6 percent, to $76.41. - Bloomberg News

Coffee prices fell to their lowest in more than four years as dry weather helped improve growing conditions in Brazil, the world's largest producer and exporter. Global production is set to exceed demand for a fourth straight season, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The glut is helping to cut costs for Starbucks Corp. and Kraft Foods Group Inc. as coffee futures tumbled 22 percent in 2013, the third-largest drop among the 24 commodities tracked by the Standard & Poor's GSCI Spot Index. Arabica coffee for delivery in December fell 1.7 percent to settle at $1.127 a pound in New York, after touching $1.123, the lowest since March 18, 2009. - Bloomberg News

Almost six million young people - almost 15 percent of those aged 16 to 24 - are neither in school nor working, according to a study by the Opportunity Nation coalition. Other studies have shown that idle young adults are missing out on a window to build skills they will need later in life or use the knowledge they acquired in college. Without those experiences, they are less likely to command higher salaries. - AP

Americans bought fewer existing homes in September than the previous month, held back by higher mortgage rates and rising prices. The National Association of Realtors said sales of resold homes fell 1.9 percent last month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.29 million. That's down from a pace of 5.39 million in August, which was revised lower. - AP

McDonald's Corp. is introducing some higher-priced options to its Dollar Menu and renaming it "Dollar Menu and More" to spur sales in the United States. The company announced the changes to its popular low-priced menu on the same day that the world's biggest burger chain reported that its third-quarter profit rose 5 percent. - AP

J.C. Penney Co. is scaling back its partnership with Martha Stewart. The department store chain will no longer be selling certain home and bath products designed by Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia Inc., the two companies said. Penney and Martha Stewart signed a merchandising deal, including the stock investment, in 2011. That prompted Macy's Inc. to sue both companies for violating its exclusive agreement with Martha Stewart. A judge has been expected to rule in a court battle between Penney and Macy's over whether Macy's has an exclusive right to sell some of her products. - AP