EARNINGS

Discover's profit soars

Discover Financial Services on Thursday said its profit more than tripled in its fiscal second quarter as it added new customers, while existing customers used their cards more and got better about making payments on time.
For the three months ended May 31, the credit card company said net income available to common shareholders rose to $593 million ($1.09 per share) compared with $185 million (33 cents) in the year-ago quarter. That far outpaced the average analyst expectation for earnings of 75 cents per share, according to data provided by FactSet.

Discover said sales volume on its namesake cards rose 9 percent during the quarter to $24.84 billion. That gain reflected new customers, more card use by existing customers and 8 percent growth in the number of merchants that accept its cards.

ENERGY

Mexico foresees renewables gain

Mexico expects foreign investment in renewable energy to almost triple this year to $8 billion, helping states such as California to slash carbon emissions, said the head of the nation's investment promotions agency.
ProMexico, as the agency is known, is in talks with European and U.S. wind and solar-power companies for four to five projects this year, compared with four projects totaling $3 billion in 2010, agency chief Carlos Guzman said in an interview in London on Thursday. Companies with operations in Mexico, such as Italy's Enel SpA, Spain's Iberdrola SA, Acciona SA or Abengoa SA, could make additional investments, he said.
Countries are taking advantage of Mexico's mountain ranges and a 1,800-mile border with the United States to build wind, solar and small hydroelectric plants, Guzman said. Mexico could help California meet a requirement for state utilities to get a third of their power from renewable sources by 2020, the most ambitious standard in the United States, he said.
"It's very difficult for California to achieve that in such a short period," said Guzman. "So many of the projects we're generating in Mexico have in mind that they could serve the Californian market. We still have to work on the regulatory side, but it's a possibility."

VIDEO

Viacom sues Cablevision

Viacom, the owner of MTV, Comedy Central and other television channels, is suing cable TV distributor Cablevision over an iPad app that Viacom says streams video of its channels without permission.
Viacom Inc. is seeking an injunction to stop Cablevision from infringing on its copyright. It filed the lawsuit Thursday morning in New York.
Viacom says it has had "limited and unproductive" discussions with Cablevision about licensing the app. But Viacom says it cannot wait for an outcome while Cablevision is distributing its shows without its consent. The app launched on April 2 and is free for Cablevision's digital cable subscribers.