American, whose parent filed for bankruptcy protection in November, said traffic rose 1.4% in January while capacity slid 2.1% on the year. As fuel prices climb, airlines have been reining in capacity to stay as close to demand levels as possible. Load factor–a measure of plane fullness–rose to 78.5% from 75.8%.

American Airlines said domestic capacity fell 4.4% as domestic traffic slid 1.1%. International traffic grew 5% and capacity improved 1.2%.

On Nov. 29, AMR filed for Chapter 11 protection after a decade of trying to avoid it while competitors slimmed down their cost structures in their own bankruptcy-court restructurings.

SOURCE: http://www.marketwatch.com/story/amrs-american-air-traffic-up-14-in-january-2012-02-06

Hirtler-Garvey has been a member of the youth-focused apparel retailer’s board since August 2005 and has served as chairman of the board’s audit committee as well as the company’s lead independent director. She most recently served as the chief risk executive for Ally Financial Inc. and has held several management positions at Bank of America Corp. (BAC).

Geiger, who also resigned as a member of the board, became the president and chief executive officer of Crumbs Bake Shop Inc. in November. Prior to that, Geiger served as Aeropostale’s chairman and chief executive from August 1998 until February 2010.

Aeropostale, which operates children’s and teen retail chains, saw its stock slump last year as its girls’ business failed to resonate with shoppers and it saw stiffer competition from its teen rivals, including Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (ANF), which has become more promotional.

In November, Aeropostale Inc. reported its fiscal third-quarter profit fell 59% as the company booked sharply higher input costs, though earnings topped the its raised forecast.

Shares closed at $16.64 and were unchanged after hours. The stock is up 9.1% year to date.

SOURCE: http://www.marketwatch.com/story/aeropostale-taps-hirtler-garvey-to-chair-board-2012-02-03

For the new year, the company forecast earnings of $5.04 to $5.20 a share on revenue growth of 4% to 6%, bracketing the $5.11 and 5% estimates from analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters.

The company, which provide information technology to the financial and insurance industries, has seen revenue grow in recent quarters on better results in its processing and services arm. But severance and debt-reduction charges have hurt its bottom line lately.

President and Chief Executive Jeffery Yabuki said revenue growth in the latest period was at its highest level in more than three years.

Fiserv reported a profit of $143 million, or $1.01 a share, up from $116 million, or 78 cents a share, a year earlier. Excluding items such as amortization of acquisition-related assets and early debt extinguishment, adjusted earnings from continuing operations rose to $1.26 from $1.06. Revenue climbed 7.7% to $1.16 billion.

Analysts had most recently forecast earnings of $1.27 on revenue of $1.13 billion.

Processing-and-services revenue, which makes up most of the company’s business, rose 5.2%. Product revenue increased 18%.

Shares closed at $63.11 Thursday and were unchanged after hours. The stock is up 11% in the past three months.

SOURCE: http://www.marketwatch.com/story/fiserv-earnings-up-23-on-higher-revenue-2012-02-02

Last month, India’s cabinet approved the proposal by Disney–which currently owns 50.28% of UTV Software–to buy out other shareholders. Walt Disney reiterated Tuesday it will delist UTV Software, which it said would allow it to integrate UTV’s current operations into the company.

Disney Chairman Andy Bird said increasing the company’s reach in international markets was a cornerstone of its growth strategy.

“This acquisition expands our footprint significantly and allows us to more effectively build, monetize and brand multiplatform franchises, and deliver a rich library of content to the world’s second largest population,” he said.

The company said it would produce both UTV and Disney-branded local films.

UTV is also a major television producer in India with six owned channels and also has a mobile-gaming business.

Disney shares closed Tuesday at $38.90 and weren’t active after hours.

SOURCE: http://www.marketwatch.com/story/disney-agrees-to-buy-out-indias-utv-software-2012-01-31

Revenue of A$430.1 million for the six months to Dec.31 compared with A$411.1 million a year earlier. That was based on production of 65.3 petajoules of gas equivalent, down 4% from 68.2 PJ.

Quarterly revenue for the three months to Dec.31 also rose 5%, as higher prices offset a 9% output decline due to lower seasonal demand and the planned shutdown of the Otway and Kupe gas plants for major maintenance.

Origin also generates electricity and is Australia’s biggest electricity retailer.

SOURCE: http://www.marketwatch.com/story/origin-energy-gas-oil-revenue-up-on-higher-prices-2012-01-30

Ivanhoe Australia said it has held detailed talks with several parties interested in investing in the Conclurry group of projects near Mount Isa in Queensland state, including the Osborne Copper-Gold development scheduled to start up in March.

“The interest we have received to date has been very encouraging and we expect that the sale of available minority interests in our assets would provide sufficient funding to help establish Ivanhoe Australia as one of the main base metals players in Australasia,” said Peter Reeve, Ivanhoe Australia’s Chief Executive.

Ivanhoe Australia, which has a market value of A$1.09 billion, is majority owned by Toronto-listed Ivanhoe Mines Ltd. IVN -1.05% and chaired by mining entrepreneur Robert Friedland.

SOURCE: http://www.marketwatch.com/story/ivanhoe-australia-names-ubs-to-find-partner-2012-01-30

QuamTel was founded in January 1996 to deliver managed pre-paid global communication products and services. Through its subsidiaries WQN and DataJack, the Company markets to individuals and businesses with a specific focus on international populations in the United States and Canada who want an easy and cost-effective way to communicate with family, friends and colleagues overseas as well as to the general consumer and business populations who cannot or do not want to be locked into long-term contracts for telecommunications services.

QuamTel concentrates its marketing efforts on customers who prefer or need to pre-pay for mobile data, International calling and global VoIP services. The Company’s no-contract, no-credit check policy allows it to service a wide spectrum of consumers and business customers while providing an easy and economical way to use and purchase those services without sacrificing quality. QuamTel also focuses on developing proprietary technologies that control and manage associated communication devices for both carriers and consumers.

QuamTel was the first company to transition calling cards from a simple, static card with no value-added services to a feature-rich, e-commerce-based calling account where the consumer has the power to view account features such as call history, purchase history, call details and more. In addition, QuamTel was the first calling card company to introduce automatic number identification (ANI) which eliminates the need for users to enter a PIN number, making calling faster and easier.

QuamTel developed its proprietary QuamTel Application Network (QAN), a next-generation e-commerce sales and service platform that has been designed to dramatically increase the quality and value of the telecommunications services it provides to both retail and wholesale customers. This plug-n-play platform allows QuamTel to quickly and more easily create new features and functionality that add substantial revenue streams, such as toll-free services, global international voice-over-internet services and country-specific celebrity branded international communication sites. Its modular application architecture creates a highly flexible and scalable development environment that provides easy integration of newly acquired companies like Datajack, Inc. and products and brands such as 800.com.

In addition to its consumer and business-to-business products and services, QuamTel also offers its portfolio of sophisticated, user-friendly telecommunications products to third parties utilizing cloud computing and delivering the product as Software as a Service (SaaS). The object-oriented architecture of the QuamTel Application Network greatly reduces the time-to-market normally associated with new product and service offerings. In addition to telecommunications, our newly developed e-commerce sales and support modules have also been made readily available to wholesale customers. These wholesale clients have full control to host one of our many customized web portals and associated web services anywhere in the cloud and communicate directly with QuamTel’s robust back-end transactional processing system. This sophisticated e-commerce system not only enhances customer service and provides additional revenue streams, but it has also created more robust integration with Google ad-word campaigns, resulting in deeper market penetration through more effective and cost-efficient outbound marketing for QuamTel’s subsidiaries and brands.

The QuamTel Application Network is the latest in a series of dynamic moves by QuamTel and its key subsidiaries, DataJack and WQN, all designed to dramatically enhance what is already the cornerstone in the next-generation internet-based telecommunications and data transfer technology systems.

SOURCE: http://www.quamtel.com/cfiles/investors.cfm

NEW YORK, Jan 26, 2012 (BUSINESS WIRE) — Ardent Mines Ltd. (OTCQB: ADNT) (the “Company” or “Ardent Mines”), a precious resources exploration, development, and mining company focused on advancing its two gold properties in Brazil, announced that the Board of Directors has appointed Luciano de Freitas Borges as President.

Mr. Borges commented on his appointment, “Ardent Mines has made significant progress this past year, having acquired two premier gold properties in Brazil, Gold Hills and Misty Hills. In addition, we completed the 43-101 exploration report on Gold Hills which confirmed an exploration potential of between 3.6 Mt and 6.0 Mt at an average grade between 4.0 g/t to 7.0 g/t. I am looking forward to advancing our exploration programs to prove up the resource potential and expected solid economics of these projects.”

Mr. Borges has over 28 years experience in Brazil’s mining industry, both in the government and private sector. He served as the National Secretary of Mines and Metallurgy in Brazil’s Ministry of Mines and Energy from 1993-2001, and as Senior Advisor to the Ministry & Strategic Planning Executive Officer to the Brazilian Geological Survey since 2002. From 2007 to 2008, he was Chief Executive Officer of Steel Mineracao do Brasil S.A., and since 2006, he has served as the Senior Partner and Chief Executive Officer of Ad Hoc Associated Advisors Inc., a technical advisory consulting firm for the mining industry. He currently serves as a Director on the Boards of Amerix Precious Metals Corporation and Ouro Roxo Participacoes S.A., each of which are developing gold projects in Brazil. Mr. Borges earned his undergraduate and post-graduation degrees in geology at the University of Brasilia, as well as having an MBA in Mineral Economics and Mineral Projects Valuation from other institutions.

Gold Hills/Serra do Ouro

Based on the results of the 43-101 exploration report and historical drill data from the area, the Company believes Gold Hills could contain a few million ounces of gold of excellent grade that should be extracted at very viable costs as the main vein is located at an average depth of 30 to 50 meters from the surface. Also, the report did not take into account any untested potential for parallel structures which can be interpreted from the airborne geophysics. Further enhancing the economics of the project is the 10-year income tax holiday Ardent expects to receive based on local incentives for investments in this semi-arid area of Brazil.

Misty Hills/Serra do Sereno

On October 18, 2011, Ardent Mines closed on its acquisition of the mineral rights in a highly mineralized area of 9,000 Hectares located in the Carajas Mineral Province, State of Para, with an option exercise payment of $350,000 to the Cooperativa dos Produtores de Minerios de Curionopolis (“COOPEMIC”). The Serra dos Carajas Mineral Province is a distinct geologic dominium, well known worldwide for hosting Brazil’s largest iron, copper and gold deposits. Ardent Mines property, named Serra do Sereno, or Misty Hills, was initially prospected by Anglo American Brasil Ltda. which identified gold and copper trends. Millions of tons of copper and millions of ounces of gold resources have been confirmed in areas which are in the same region as Misty Hills and new significant discoveries are still being made in the area.

ABOUT ARDENT MINES

Ardent Mines has positioned itself to develop low cost gold mining operations in Brazil, a mining friendly jurisdiction. Ardent Mines owns a 100% interest in Gold Hills Mining Ltda., which in turn owns mineral rights on 3,500 Hectares, covering a highly-mineralized vein containing high grades of gold. Ardent Mines also owns the mineral rights on the Serra do Sereno (Misty Hills) property, located in Carajas, Brazil, one of the better known mining districts in the world. Ardent Mines is headquartered in New York, and has a field office in Brasilia. The Company has 16.3 million shares outstanding, and trades under the ticker symbol ADNT.

Forward-Looking Statements

This news release contains “forward-looking statements” as defined in the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements are based upon our current expectations and speak only as of the date hereof. These forward-looking statements are based upon currently available competitive, financial, and economic data and management’s views and assumptions regarding future events. Such forward-looking statements are inherently uncertain. Our actual results may vary materially from those expressed in any forward-looking statements as a result of various factors and uncertainties. Ardent Mines cannot provide assurances that any prospective matters described in the press release will be successfully completed or that Ardent Mines will realize the anticipated benefits of any transactions. Various risk factors that may affect our business, results of operations and financial condition are detailed from time to time in the Annual Report on Form 10-K and in the Current Reports on Form 8-K and other filings made by Ardent Mines with the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission. Ardent Mines undertakes no obligation to update information contained in this release.

SOURCE: Ardent Mines Ltd. http://www.ardentmines.com

Samsung, the world’s largest technology firm by revenue, said its net profit for the three months ended Dec. 31 rose to KRW4 trillion (US$3.57 billion) from KRW3.42 trillion a year earlier. In the third quarter, Samsung reported a net profit of KRW3.44 trillion.

The result was lower than the average KRW4.12 trillion net profit forecast in a poll of six analysts.

Samsung’s new revenue generators, such as high-end organic light-emitting diode displays and mobile processing semiconductors, cushioned the impact of a continued profit squeeze at the company’s liquid crystal display and computer memory chip businesses. The deal to sell Samsung’s hard disk drive business to U.S.-based Seagate Technology Inc. for $1.4 billion and the reversal of some provisions on royalties to Microsoft Corp. for Samsung’s Android-based smartphones and tablets also boosted income in the fourth quarter.

The firm’s operating profit and sales were in line with the company’s guidance issued earlier this month. Operating profit rose 75.8% to a record KRW5.3 trillion, from KRW3.01 trillion a year earlier, while sales rose 13% KRW47.3 trillion, from KRW41.87 trillion. Samsung had forecast a consolidated operating profit of between KRW5.0 trillion and KRW5.4 trillion on sales of between KRW46 trillion and KRW48 trillion.

Analysts said conditions in the global technology industry will remain challenging this year due to the lingering uncertainties over the global economy and Europe’s debt troubles, but the electronics giant’s earnings momentum will remain robust as its brisk sales of smartphones will continue to drive sales of its components.

“Samsung’s operating profit will decrease to about KRW4.48 trillion in the first quarter due to the traditionally slower selling season, but will rebound from the second quarter as smartphone sales growth will continue, which will help strengthen the synergies between the company’s set products and components,” Solomon Investment & Securities said in a report.

For the full year in 2011, Samsung posted a net profit of KRW13.73 trillion on record sales of KRW165 trillion.

SOURCE: http://www.marketwatch.com/story/samsung-profit-up-17-on-record-smartphone-sales-2012-01-26