Packer's CPH still plans Crown bailout: Casino operator Crown Ltd said on Thursday it had been advised by Kerry Packer's Consolidated Press Holdings (CPH) that CPH remained interested in its A$425 million plan to rescue Crown. But Crown said CPH's plan depended on Crown's calls for changes to the Victorian regulatoryframework being resolved and the removal of plans for a second hotel tower and the Lyric Theatre.

UK Treasury seeks to step up PFI scheme: The British Treasury is looking for 7.0 billion pounds of private investment in public projects in Private Finance Intitiative schemes over the next two years, the Independent newspaper said on Thursday. The Paymaster General Geoffrey Robinson announced 30 projects totalling 4.25 billion pounds which would be given special priority under the government's PFI scheme, aiming for further projects to be signed over the next two years bringing the total up to 5.0 to 7.0 billion pounds. Under new guidelines trades unions and employees will be given the right to comment on PFI bids. The Times newspaper said new guidelines for the scheme had won immediate support from the Trades Union Congress and the Confederation of British Industry. Previously unions had threatened to withdraw their cooperation with PFI projects because of concerns that transferring staff into theprivate sector would result in reduced wages and diminish employment rights. The scheme has been in place for six years and so far about 11.0 billion pounds have been signed.

Electronic Arts posts second-quarter loss: Electronic Arts Inc., the largest developer of computer games, reported a net loss in the second quarter, including a one-time charge associated with its $122.5 million purchase of Westwood Studios Inc. Electronic Arts said that including a pre-tax, one-time charge of $41.8 million to write-down acquired research and development in process at Westwood, it reported a net loss of $25.3 million, or 42 cents a share, versus net income of $41,000, or nil per share, in the year-ago quarter. Revenues, fuelled by the launch of 18 new video games in the quarter, jumped 29 per cent to $245.8 million, from $189.8 million a year ago. Excluding the charges, but including sales from Westwood - which Electronic Arts agreed to acquire in August - net income was $10.7 million, or 17 cents a sharediluted, versus $7.1 million, or 12 cents a share diluted, a year ago. Electronic Arts's second quarter was one penny above expectations. According to First Call, the consensus on Wall Street was for earnings of 16 cents a share, before charges.

Habibie says not to resign before 2000: Indonesia's president B.J. Habibie said "it will be the end of democracy" if he resigned before the year 2000 under pressure from pro-reform groups, the official Antara news agency reported on Thursday. Students have staged new rallies to demand the resignation of Habibie who took over from Suharto in May amid devastating economic turmoil, nationwide unrest, and rioting in which 1,200 people died. "I've heard of a discussion which suggests that Habibie declares he is not able to serve (as president) as far as 2000," Habibie was quoted as saying. "If I do it (resign), then it will be the end of democracy. If I bow to the pressure and do it then I am opening the door for the end of democracy," he said. Habibie has saidparliamentary elections will be held in May next year and the country's highest legislative body, the People's Consultative Assembly, will be convened in December 1999 to choose a new president and vice president.

Office Depot's earnings fall due to mergers: Office Depot Inc. the world's largest office supplies retailer, on Wednesday reported a 75-per cent drop in third-quarter earnings, to 6 cents a diluted share, compared with 24 cents a year ago. Net earnings for the third quarter that ended September 26, were $15.7 million, down sharply from $61.7 million in the same period the year before, the company said. However, excluding a charge of $66.8 million for its merger with Viking Office Products and a charge of $9.9 million for the cost of the failed merger with Staples Inc., Office Depot reported earnings of 32 cents per diluted share. That beat -- by one cent a share -- expectations of analysts surveyed by First Call Corp. Office Depot purchased Viking in August, about a year after a federaljudge blocked a proposed merger with Staples. Third-quarter sales rose 10 per cent to $2.235 billion from $2.031billion for the same period last year. Operating income also rose to $130.3 million in the third quarter from $103.5 million in the same period in the previous year.