Iberia to add flights from Logan starting in June

Iberia Airlines said it will increase the frequency of its flights between Boston and Madrid starting in mid-June. The Spanish carrier, which is the only scheduled airline offering nonstop service on this route, will provide daily flights rather than the current schedule of three flights per week. To smoothly connect with other Iberia flights to or from Spain, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, flights will depart from Logan International Airport at 6:20 p.m. and land in Madrid at 7:20 a.m. the next day; return flights will leave Madrid at 1:25 p.m. and arrive in Boston at 3:40 p.m. (Nicole C. Wong)

Ambac Financial Group Inc.'s plan to raise $1.5 billion in capital enables the company to stay in one piece, New York insurance regulators said, after the company had considered splitting its operations. The New York Insurance Department gave its backing to Ambac's proposal to offer common stock and equity units to boost its reserves in an effort to maintain its "AAA" credit rating. The insurer essentially needs that rating to book new business. Ambac said its total offering consists of a public stock offering for at least $1 billion and a $500 million offering of equity units. Ambac is in trouble because the company wrote guarantees on billions of dollars of questionable structured finance assets. (AP)

Ford Motor Co. says it will pay performance bonuses to all hourly and salaried workers in the United States and Canada and its management team around the world because the company is making progress toward becoming profitable again. Chief executive Alan Mulally said in a message to all workers that the Dearborn, Mich., company fell short of its market share goals in North and South America and Asia. But it met objectives in all other categories including cost reductions, quality, cash flow, and financial results. Ford lost $2.7 billion last year and $12.6 billion in 2006. (AP)

Apple Inc. has fallen substantially short of its target of having 1,000 movies available for rent on its Apple TV set-top box by the end of February, and is blaming studios for the discrepancy. A complete count of the number of movies available on the box yesterday was elusive, but appeared to be between 400 and 500. Apple chief executive Steve Jobs told shareholders at the annual meeting Tuesday that he's "not happy" with the shortfall, according to the San Jose Mercury News. Apple spokesman Tom Neumayr said the company hopes to have 1,000 movies available "soon." (AP)

Berkshire Hathaway Inc. chairman Warren Buffett, 77, toppled Bill Gates from the top spot on Forbes magazine's annual list of billionaires worldwide, ending a 13-year reign for the Microsoft Corp. co-founder. Buffett's wealth grew $10 billion to about $62 billion in the 12 months through Feb. 11, mostly due to a gain in his company's shares, Forbes said. The fortune of Gates, 52, rose $2 billion to $58 billion. The Microsoft chairman fell to third on the list behind Mexican telecommunications mogul Carlos Slim, 68, who has an estimated net worth of $60 billion. (Bloomberg)

Ziff Davis Media Inc., publisher of technology and video game magazines, filed for bankruptcy and cited a decrease in revenue from print advertising and subscriptions as contributing to its decline. But the company said it expected to reorganize quickly and exit court protection by summer. New York-based Ziff Davis said in a court filing it had total debt of between $500 million and $1 billion and total assets worth $100 million to $500 million. The company publishes PC Magazine and Electronic Gaming Monthly and Web versions of those magazines. (AP)

Merrill Lynch & Co. said it will stop funding loans at its troubled First Franklin home lending unit, and explore selling the company it bought for $1.3 billion at the real estate market's peak. The world's largest brokerage suffered $11.5 billion in losses during the fourth quarter linked to the subprime mortgage market's collapse. It will spend $60 million in 2008 to pay for severance and other real estate costs linked to unwinding First Franklin's operations. Some 650 people will be affected by the closure. (AP)