In brief: Red Lion Hotels reports losses for ’08

Red Lion Hotels Corp. on Wednesday reported losses for the fourth quarter and full 2008, and projected further declines for 2009 despite some job cutbacks, a wage freeze, and a 5 percent pay reduction for salaried employees.

For the quarter, the Spokane-based chain lost $3.9 million, or 22 cents per share, compared with a loss of $1.1 million, or 7 cents per share, for the 2007 quarter. Revenues declined 6.3 percent to $41.3 million.

For the full year, the company lost $1.7 million, or 9 cents per share, compared with net income of $5.2 million, or 32 cents per share, for 2007.

Revenue per room, occupancy and margins were also down for Red Lion, which owns or franchises 47 hotels in nine states and one Canadian province.

COEUR D’ALENE

Hecla raises capital

Hecla Mining Co. raised approximately $71 million through a recent stock offering, company officials reported. The money will be used to pay off $40 million in short-term loans related to Hecla’s purchase of the Greens Creek Mine in Alaska.

The remaining money will be applied to other loans and for other projects.

Boston

New Madoff allegation

The wife of disgraced money manager Bernard Madoff withdrew more than $15 million from a firm co-owned by her husband – including $10 million on the day their children turned her husband over to authorities for overseeing an alleged $50 billion Ponzi scheme, the top securities regulator in Massachusetts said Wednesday.

Secretary of State William Galvin said Ruth Madoff, 67, withdrew $5.5 million on Nov. 25 and $10 million on Dec. 10 – the day before Bernard Madoff was arrested – from Cohmad Securities Corp., a New York firm co-owned by her husband.

The secretary cited wire transfer records produced by Cohmad as proof of the withdrawals. They came as Madoffs’ scheme was unraveling as investors filed $7 billion worth of redemption requests.

Shanghai, China

China’s exports plunge

China’s exports in January took a dramatic turn for the worse, falling 17.5 percent in value from a year ago, as shipments of electronics, cell phones, steel products and other goods made in China plunged, the government said Wednesday.

It was the biggest percentage decline in more than a decade and indicated further troubles ahead for China’s once-powerful industrial sector and the millions of migrant workers who count on factory jobs for their livelihoods.