Briefcase

Chair, three members leaving Yahoo board

San Francisco – Yahoo Chairman Roy Bostock and three longtime board members are stepping down.

Many frustrated shareholders blame them for not fixing the problems dragging down the Internet company’s revenue and stock price. The shake-up comes shortly after Yahoo got a new CEO and co-founder Jerry Yang left the board.

Bostock says bringing in new directors will provide Yahoo with needed expertise and perspective for a turnaround. With the housecleaning, Yahoo will be left with seven directors, all of whom have joined the board since the end of 2009.

Single-copy magazine sales down 10 percent

NEW YORK – U.S. magazine sales at newsstands and other retailers dropped 10 percent in the second half of 2011, a sign that Americans are still careful about discretionary spending and impulse purchases.

The Audit Bureau of Circulations said Tuesday that overall circulation including subscriptions was down just 1 percent. But the decline in single-copy sales is a troubling sign for publishers because they make more money from retail sales than from subscriptions.

Cosmopolitan was still the top-selling magazine at newsstands, even though its sales declined nearly 7 percent compared with a year earlier. The magazine with the largest overall circulation was AARP the Magazine, with 22.4 million copies, down 6 percent.

Among the most popular magazines at retailers, Food Network Magazine saw the biggest increase in single-copy sales, up more than 16 percent to about 438,000. Single-copy sales of O, The Oprah Magazine fell 32 percent to about 413,000.

Oracle rejects damages, demands new SAP trial

SAN FRANCISCO – Business software maker Oracle Corp. has turned down $272 million in court-ordered damages from SAP AG in hopes of leaving a much bigger dent in its rival’s pocketbook and reputation during a second trial over allegations of corporate theft.

The decision to extend the 5-year-old legal brawl had been expected since September when U.S. District Judge Phyllis Hamilton lopped more than $1 billion from the jury’s award after concluding it was “grossly excessive.”

Oracle demanded the new trial in a Monday court filing.

In doing so, Oracle will try to prove the jury got it right the first time while getting another chance to sully SAP as a high-tech bandit.

Paper clips

• The Walt Disney Co. said Tuesday that its net income rose 12 percent in the final quarter of 2011, rising to $1.46 billion, or 80 cents per share, from $1.30 billion, or 68 cents per share, a year earlier.

• Arizona, Michigan and Florida will join a nationwide settlement over foreclosure abuses, officials with direct knowledge say. They will join more than 40 other states in approving a deal that would benefit many Americans who lost their homes or can’t afford their mortgages.