DeVry Inc. said Thursday that second-quarter earnings surged 52 percent on higher enrollment.
The for-profit education company, which offers college degrees in technology, business and health care, posted net income of $16.4 million, or 23 cents a share, up from $10.8 million, or 15 cents a share, a year ago. The latest result met estimates. Revenue increased 13 percent, to $237.5 million.
Oakbrook Terrace-based DeVry had the best share-price performance in the for-profit education sector in 2006, gaining 40 percent. In December, DeVry reported its sixth consecutive quarter of higher new-student enrollment. Total enrollment at all DeVry institutions, including its namesake school and Ross University, increased 6 percent.
“It’s all starting to come together for them,” said Trey Cowan, an analyst with Stanford Group in Houston.
The report came out after the close of trading.
In other earnings news:
– Brunswick Corp. said it swung to a loss in the fourth quarter, but its shares rose after its sales beat estimates.
The Lake Forest-based company reported a fourth-quarter loss of $53.2 million, or 57 cents a share, compared with a profit of $88.3 million, or 90 cents a share, a year ago. Sales slipped 1 percent, to $1.37 billion, but that topped Wall Street forecasts of $1.35 billion.
On a continuing operations basis, Brunswick said it earned 47 cents a share. The results included a gain of 25 cents a share from a tax-related benefit and a charge of 14 cents a share from restructuring. Analysts were looking for 38 cents a share, according to Thomson Financial.
Shares of Brunswick gained $1.45, or 4.5 percent, to $33.35, after jumping as much as 8.5 percent on the New York Stock Exchange.
– Alberto-Culver Co. reported first-quarter sales that exceeded estimates, but earnings from continuing operations for the newly independent company fell because of restructuring charges.
This is the first quarter in which the Melrose Park-based distributor of personal-care products reported as an independent corporation following the split of its Sally Beauty unit into a separate public company.
Alberto-Culver said sales rose 13 percent, to $351.1 million, beating estimates of $350 million. But the company reported a net loss of $5.9 million, or 6 cents per share, compared with a profit of $52.1 million, or 56 cents per share, a year earlier.
Earnings from continuing operations were roughly break even compared with $14.4 million, or 16 cents a share, a year earlier.
Excluding restructuring and other expenses, per-share earnings were 21 cents a share. Analysts had forecast 17 cents a share, according to Thomson Financial. Separately, the company’s board has approved a quarterly cash dividend of 5.5 cents a share, or 22 cents a share on an annualized basis.
Shares of Alberto-Culver added 21 cents, to $22.95, in NYSE trading.
– GATX Corp., which leases airplanes and railroad cars, posted fourth-quarter net income of $35.1 million, or 61 cents a share, compared with a loss of $111.9 million, or $2.18 a share, in the year-ago period.
But shares of the Chicago-based company tumbled after its 2007 earnings forecast fell short of estimates. GATX said income from continuing operations this year will be $2.90 to $3.10 a share. Analysts are expecting $3.12 a share. GATX stock sagged $2.18, or nearly 5 percent, to $44.15, in NYSE trading.
– FTD Group Inc. said second-quarter net income rose to $6.1 million, or 21 cents a share, from $5.9 million, or 19 cents a share, a year earlier. The Downers Grove-based company reported a 39 percent jump in revenue, to $151.5 million.
FTD Group sank $1.39, or more than 7 percent, to $17.50, in NYSE trading.
