Insurance unit cuts Prudential profit

Aug 03,2006 00:00 by Boston.com

EARNINGS ROUNDUP

Life insurance and investment giant Prudential Financial Inc. reported second-quarter profit fell 43 percent from a year ago, as income fell at its insurance division.

Financial services profit was $424 million, or 89 cents a share, compared with $754 million, or $1.48 a share, for the same period in 2005.

Total revenue for the three months ending June 30 rose 6 percent to $6.04 billion from $5.7 billion a year earlier.

The adjusted operating profit for the quarter of $1.40 a share fell 4 cents short of the consensus of analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial. The Newark-based company also missed analysts' forecast of $6.07 billion revenue. (AP)

Frappucinos give Starbucks a lift

Starbucks Corp., the world's largest coffee-shop chain, said profit increased on drinks such as the tangerine Frappuccino.

Net income in the third quarter increased 16 percent to $145.5 million, or 18 cents a share, from $125.5 million, or 16 cents, a year earlier. Sales in the 13 weeks ended July 2 climbed 23 percent to $1.96 billion from $1.6 billion.

Analysts expected profit of 17 cents per share.

Hospitality climbs on room rates hike

Second-quarter profit climbed 58 percent at Newton-based Hospitality Properties Trust.

The real estate investment firm posted net income of $35.4 million, or 47 cents per share, versus $22.4 million or 30 cents per share for the same quarter in 2005.

The improvement came on revenues that increased 24 percent as hotel rates climbed. The company's average revenue per room, that measures how much money a company takes in on each of its rooms per night, grew 11 percent.

Hospitality Properties Trust owns 308 hotels, 13 in Massachusetts. (Keith Reed)

Inverness Medical swings to loss

Inverness Medical Innovations Inc. swung to a second-quarter loss of $10.6 million from a year-ago profit of $2.5 million.

On a per-share basis, the Waltham maker of rapid-diagnostic products reported a loss of 33 cents compared with earnings of 10 cents a year ago.

The company said year-ago results included the prior-year impact of a favorable settlement of disputes which totaled $11.2 million, or 45 cents a share.

Excluding items such as amortization expense and restructuring charges, earnings were $3.2 million, or 9 cents a share, down from $8.8 million, or 36 cents a share.

Analysts expected earnings of 6 cents a share.

Revenue rose to $139.7 million from $102.3 million a year earlier. (Dow Jones)

Dynamics Research earnings plummet

Dynamics Research Corp.'s second-quarter net income fell 95 percent to $176,000, or 2 cents a share, from $3.27 million, or 36 cents a share, a year ago, as revenue fell 12 percent.

The Andover government services company's revenue fell to $67.3 million from $76.2 million in the comparable period a year ago.

Analysts expected per-share earnings of 4 cents on revenue of $64.3 million. (Dow Jones)

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