Business news digest

REGION

Bella Sole spa opens

YOUNGSTOWN — Bella Sole spa, 945 Boardman-Canfield Road, Suite 7, has opened for business.

The spa, co-owned by George Zordich and Mike Durkin, offers tanning, massages, waxing and other services and has a coffee shop.

NATION

GM, accounting firm OK lawsuit settlement

NEW YORK — Attorneys say General Motors Corp. and an accounting firm have agreed to pay $303 million to investors to settle a lawsuit surrounding allegations that the automaker misstated its finances.

Attorneys with plaintiffs Deka Investment GmbH and Deka International SA say GM has agreed to pay $277 million, while Deloitte Touche LLP will pay $26 million. The settlement is pending approval from the presiding judge in the case.

The case stems from claims that GM issued false and misleading statements about its finances to investors going back to 2000.

A GM spokeswoman says the company is pleased with the settlement and looks forward to the lawsuit’s being resolved. A Deloitte representative could not immediately be reached for comment.

Google says its stake in AOL ‘may be impaired’

SAN FRANCISCO — In an assessment that could lead to a substantial charge against its future profits, Google Inc. believes its $1 billion investment in advertising partner AOL is souring.

The Mountain View-based company disclosed in a quarterly report filed late Thursday with the Securities and Exchange Commission that the 5 percent AOL stake that it bought in 2005 “may be impaired.” Impairment is an accounting term used to describe an acquisition or investment that has eroded.

Unless there is an about-face, the acquiring company eventually must absorb a charge on its books to account for the diminished value of its holdings.

Google acknowledged for the first time that it might have to recognize a loss on its 5 percent stake in AOL, whose struggles have made it a financial albatross for its owner, Time Warner Inc.

Fed report: Consumers borrowed more in June

WASHINGTON — The Federal Reserve says consumers boosted their borrowing in June at the fastest pace in seven months.

The Fed’s report, released Thursday, shows consumer credit increased at a brisk annual rate of 6.7 percent in June. That’s up from a 3.8 percent growth rate in May. It marks the biggest increase since November when borrowing grew at a 8.2 percent pace.

The Fed says debt rung up by consumers rose by $14 billion in June from the previous month to $2.59 trillion. That’s more than the $6.4 billion over-the-month increase economists were forecasting.

From staff and wire reports