Business news for Sun, 23 Dec 2007 & with words million+san. 2 news.

VISA Inc, the biggest credit-card company, had an US$861-million loss this year on US$2.65 billion in litigation costs, most from settling an antitrust suit brought by rival American Express Co. Legal expenses reversed gains for the San Francisco-based company. Revenue in the fiscal year ended September 30 rose 33 percent to US$5.19 billion, Visa said on Friday in a regulatory filing, Bloomberg News said. The loss compares with a profit of US$453 million in 2006, Visa said. Visa's November 7 settlement with American Express, the third-largest credit-card network, cleared the way for its planned initial public offering next year. The company wants to capitalize on consumers' growing preference for credit and debit cards over cash and checks. MasterCard Inc, the No. 2 network, has gained more than 400 percent since going public in May 2006. American Express sued Visa in November 2004 after the US Supreme Court ruled Visa and MasterCard violated antitrust laws by preventing

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) - Online shopping revenue is up 19% in the pre-Chistmas period of 2007 holiday season, according to ComScore Inc. [v: scor]. The online data monitoring group said online shoppers spent $26.29 billion for the first 51 days of the holiday season, from Nov. 21 -Dec 21, compared to $22.04 billion in the same period last year. The busiest spending day so far this year was Dec. 10, dubbed "Green Monday," when shoppers spent $881 million, ComScore said.