In Short

A round-up of today's other stories in brief.

Persian Gold suffers losses of £237,592

Persian Gold, the John Teeling-chaired explorer that listed on London's Alternative Investment Market last year, had losses of £162,204 sterling (€237,592) in 2005.

The company said yesterday that it has recruited an Iranian-based geological team and has taken early stage exploration in the Takestan region a step further.

Drilling is expected to begin in that region in the third quarter of this year. It will also be making a decision on drilling in the Yazd region later this year.

The company said that all projects are fully funded. It raised £1 million last year.

EMI will pay $3.75m to settle charges

EMI Group Plc, the world's third-largest music company, said yesterday it has agreed to pay $3.75 million (€2.97 million) to settle charges by New York State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer that it made secret payments to radio stations in exchange for airplay.

The music company behind such artists as the Rolling Stones and Coldplay is the last of the big four music groups to settle with the Attorney General's office over allegations of pay-for- play practices, also known as payola, in the music industry.

EMI provided illegal "financial benefits to obtain airplay and boost the chart position of its artists by bribing radio station employees with concert tickets, video games and hotel and air fare expenses," according to a statement from Spitzer's office.

Bear Stearns profit rises 81%

Bear Stearns quarterly profit rose 81 per cent, easily beating estimates, as strong trading results boosted its key fixed income business.

Bear Stearns shares rose over 4 per cent, in line with a rally in brokerage stocks, which outperformed the broader market after falling in recent sessions on concern about an overall plunge in equities.

Earlier this week, larger rivals Goldman Sachs Group and Lehman Brothers Holdings reported better-than-expected profits, but the numbers were overshadowed by worries about their business outlooks.

Bear Stearns' net income jumped to $539 million, or $3.72 a share, for the fiscal second quarter ended May 31st, from $298 million, or $2.09 a share, a year earlier. Net revenue surged 33 per cent to $2.5 billion. - Analysts, on average, had expected earnings of $3.11 a share on revenue of $2.11 billion, according to Reuters Estimates. - (Reuters)

BP plans to invest $37bn in US

BP plans to invest about $37 billion in the United States, the world's biggest energy consumer, to explore, produce and process more oil and natural gas, BP chief executive John Browne said yesterday.

BP will spend $16 billion over the next decade on oil and natural gas exploration and production in US deep waters in the Gulf of Mexico, Mr Browne said.

The company also plans to spend $17 billion over the same time frame on US onshore oil and gas development in the Rockies and elsewhere. - (Reuters)