Business news in brief

The Hilton Casino Resort disclosed in a filing with the New Jersey Casino Control Commission that it failed to make its monthly loan payment July 9 due to the "severe impact of the current economic conditions." The Atlantic City casino says it is in talks with its lender to revise the terms of the mortgage agreement. As of June 30, its outstanding debt under the loan was $348.2 million, plus $868,000 in accrued interest, according to the statement. - AP

Met-Pro Corp., which makes product-recovery, pollution-control, and fluid-handling equipment, said second- quarter profit plunged, blaming weak demand from large project and industrial markets. For the quarter ended July 31, Met-Pro earned $1.2 million, or 8 cents per share, down 56 percent from $2.7 million, or 18 cents per share, in the same quarter last year. Sales dropped 26 percent to $20.9 million from $28.1 million. - AP

A U.S. District Court ruled this week that software developer Sedona Corp., King of Prussia, was not entitled to royalty payments for enhancements made to its customer-management software and sold by another company. Sedona had licensed, to software provider Open Solutions Inc., a program to help financial institutions manage customer information. Open Solutions, Glastonbury, Conn., hired another company to rewrite the Java-based program so it could be packaged in a suite of software. A court ruling issued in Connecticut said no royalties need be paid on the enhanced software. Representatives for both companies had no comment. - Roslyn Rudolph

Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria SA, Spain's second-biggest bank, took over Guaranty Financial Group Inc. of Texas, as the toll of seized U.S. lenders climbed to 81. Branches of Guaranty, with $13 billion in assets, will become offices of BBVA Compass of Birmingham, Ala., in a transaction brokered by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., the regulator said. Also yesterday, CapitalSouth Bank of Alabama and First Coweta Bank of Georgia were closed by state regulators. CapitalSouth of Birmingham, which

had $617 million of assets, was closed

by the Alabama State Banking Department, and First Coweta of Newnan, with $167 million of assets, was shut by the Georgia Department of Banking and Finance, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. said in news releases. The FDIC was named the receiver. Federal regulators also closed ebank of Atlanta after the U.S. thrift regulator said the lender was "critically undercapitalized." - Bloomberg News

The unemployment rate fell in 17 states and the District of Columbia last month,

a positive sign even as the pain of joblessness remains widespread. The Labor Department said that the jobless rate fell in July in Delaware, New York, Oregon, Minnesota, and Virginia, among other states. It rose in 26 states, including Pennsylvania and New Jersey. While jobs remain scarce, the figures are an improvement from previous months. - AP

American Airlines will charge $50 to check a second bag on most international flights to help increase revenue as travel declines and fuel prices rise. The change, effective for tickets bought starting Sept. 14, applies on trans-Atlantic flights to, from, or through India, England,

Belgium, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Spain, and Switzerland and to U.S. territories. The checked-bag charge for the AMR Corp. unit is its first on international routes, and follows

increases last month in the fee to check bags on domestic flights. - Bloomberg News

Filmgoers who have long turned to

the local newspaper to find theaters and show times for movies may have to start looking elsewhere. The top two U.S. chains, Regal Entertainment Group and AMC Entertainment Inc., have begun to reduce or eliminate the small-type listings showing

the start times for movies at individual theaters. Theaters typically must pay newspapers to print that information. Looking to cut costs, the theater chains

are instead directing consumers to their Internet sites or third-party sites, like Fandango, Moviefone, or Flixster, which offer the listings for free and make

money from the fees they charge for

selling advance tickets to movies. - AP