Few people would mistake Albuquerque as the happiest place on Earth. But the city — the setting (if not the actual filming location) for the fictional East High from one of Walt Disney Co.’s hottest franchises, “High School Musical” — seemed an appropriate place for President and Chief Executive Robert Iger to tout the year’s accomplishments to shareholders. The reserved yet affable Iger has plenty to celebrate. The annual return to shareholders over the last five years was 15.3% — outperforming the annual average for the Standard & Poor’s 500. And despite worries about a slowing economy, Disney’s operating profit at its media networks, parks and resorts, and consumer product groups grew by double digits in its most recent quarter. For the full story visit http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-disney7mar07,1,6085636.story?ctrack=7 & cset;=true

Units of Countrywide Financial Corp of Calabasas were subpoenaed today in Illinois along with Wells Fargo & Co in an investigation by that state’s attorney general into lending practices. Attorney General Lisa Madigan is probing into whether the companies violated federal law by corralling non-white borrowers into more expensive loans than those offered white borrowers, Reuters reported. Madigan’s inquiry comes behind a local magazine’s study that revealed wide disparities in loan prices between races. Countrywide, the largest U.S. mortgage lender, is amid federal and state investigations of its lending practices, as well as several investors’ lawsuits. Countrywide said in a statement it “will cooperate fully in any investigation by the attorney general.” The Illinois investigation centers on the Chicago Reporter magazine’s report that black borrowers were three times as likely, and Latino borrowers were twice as likely, as white borrowers to get high-priced home loans. Countrywide Home Loans Inc and Wells Fargo Financial Illinois Inc. were the units served by the subpoenas.

Power-One Inc. extended by two years its $50 million loan from PWER Bridge LLC, the company announced. The extension provides to Camarillo-based Power-One a capital structure to expand markets and support customers of its power conversion products. “We believe we have adequate liquidity and a solid balance sheet to support both our growth strategy and our efforts to achieve sustained profitability,” said Power-One CEO Richard Thompson. PWER Bridge is an affiliate of investment banking firm Stephens Inc.

The Cheesecake Factory Inc. has secured an extension to its revolving credit facility for $100 million. The company intends to use the funds in support of share repurchases between $150 million and $200 million. “We are pleased to have obtained an increase in our credit facility at the high end of our targeted range and at a favorable rate despite tight credit market conditions,” said David Overton, Chairman and CEO. “We are committed to prudently deploying capital towards earnings per share growth and improved returns on invested capital. Our share repurchases help to accomplish both of these goals, as well as return capital to shareholders.” In February, the company’s Board of Directors approved a ten million share increase in its share repurchase authorization 2008. As a result, the company currently has authorization to repurchase up to 17.5 million shares of its common stock.

Amgen has obtained an exclusive license to develop and commercialize a cancer-fighting antibody generated by Tokyo-based company Kyowa Hakko Kogyo Co. Ltd. The licensing agreement stipulates that Amgen will make an upfront payment to Kyowa Hakko of $100 million. Kyowa Hakko could receive up to $420 million in additional payments and will also be entitled to receive double digit royalties on sales. Amgen’s 2008 adjusted earnings per share will not be affected by this transaction. The agreement will be effective once it is approved by the Federal Trade Commission.

The U.S. movie box office took in $9.6 billion in 2007, according to numbers released by the Motion Picture Association of America. That figure is a 5.4 percent increase from 2006 and is an all-time record, the association said. U.S. film studios released 603 films, of which 11 grossed $200 million or more. Four of those films grossed $300 million or more during the year. The entertainment industry faced serious challenges in 2007, from the television and film writers strike to the global impact of film theft, said association Chairman and CEO Dan Glickman. “But, ultimately, we got our Hollywood ending,” Glickman said. “Once again, diverse, quality films and the timeless allure of the movie house proved a winning combination with consumers around the world.”

WASHINGTON — Boeing Co. demanded immediate answers Tuesday on why it lost a $35-billion contract for refueling tankers to Northrop Grumman Corp. and its European partner EADS, as Boeing backers in Congress threatened to hold up funding for the deal. Pentagon acquisition chief John Young defended the contract award, saying that the Defense Department followed procedures carefully and that there was no obvious reason for the loser to protest the decision. But he said that he had urged the Air Force to brief Boeing “as soon as possible,” possibly on Thursday, and that there was no reason for an extended delay. Young said federal law did not allow for consideration of how many jobs were created by a weapons program and required the military to get the “best value” deal it could. For the full story visit http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-boeing5mar05,1,257505.story?ctrack=3 & cset;=true

A subsidiary of Teledyne Technologies Inc. was awarded a $7.5 million order for engineering services to the Marshall Space Flight Center Test Laboratory. Teledyne Brown Engineering Inc. will provide the flight center with engineering support, expert assessment, test conductors, and engineers. Teledyne Brown is a subsidiary of Thousand Oaks-based Teledyne Technologies. The test laboratory will test elements of the Ares launch vehicle, a NASA project to return humans to the moon and later take them to Mars and beyond. “Teledyne Brown is proud to play an important role in NASA’s new vision for space exploration,” said company Chairman, President, and CEO Robert Mehrabian. Shares in Teledyne closed at $44.82.

The CW let 25 staffers go as a result of declining ratings and the work stoppage due to the writers strike. Among those exiting the Burbank-based network are Kim Fleary, executive vice president of comedy development, 10 employees with Kids’ WB, and marketing jobs form the network’s CW Plus channel, Variety reported. The CW is a joint network of Warner Bros. and CBS Corp. that began airing in September 2006. The layoffs eliminates the network’s comedy department and merges the drama and current programming units into one scripted series department, Variety reported. The layoffs came as the network announced a new midseason schedule with new episodes of its scripted series “Gossip Girl,” “One Tree Hill,” “Smallville,” and “Everbody Hates Chris.”

At Southern California’s twin ports, there is a growing feeling that the economic tide has begun to turn. Imports are down. Experts expect another year of little or no cargo growth in 2008. And other harbors are getting serious about luring business away from Los Angeles and Long Beach, the nation’s largest seaport complex, and other West Coast ports. Competitors along the East and Gulf coasts, once content to take on whatever Los Angeles and Long Beach couldn’t handle, have embarked on major expansion projects. Billions of dollars are being spent to transform the Panama Canal so that it can handle the largest ships. In Canada, a port project once viewed as little more than a safety valve for times of congestion has been elevated to a national priority. For the full story go to http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-ports5mar05,1,5119895.story?ctrack=1 & cset;=true