Business briefs for July 23, 2001

Monday, July 23, 2001 | 11:27 a.m.

Aviation supplier reports improved earnings

Titanium Metals Corp., which operates a manufacturing plant in Henderson, reported second-quarter earnings of $29.6 million, 86 cents a share, on sales of $120 million.

Timet, the Denver-based producer of titanium for aircraft manufacturers, reported earnings for the three months ended June 30. The company reported a loss of $9.5 million, 30 cents a share, on sales of $108.8 million in the same period a year earlier.

The 2001 quarter includes pre-tax income of $62.7 million related to a settlement with Boeing Co. announced by the company in April. Boeing altered contract orders with all of its titanium suppliers in 2000 and 2001.

J. Landis Martin, chairman and chief executive officer of Timet, said he expects shipments of titanium products to aerospace companies to increase through the rest of the year.

HCA beats profit projections

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- A year after taking a $498 million charge to help settle federal fraud allegations, HCA's turnaround continued as the nation's largest for-profit hospital chain today posted second-quarter net income of $263 million, beating Wall Street's expectations.

For the three months ended June 30, HCA earned 48 cents per share, compared with a net loss of $272 million, or 49 cents per share in the second quarter of 2000.

Excluding investigation and settlement-related costs and gains on the sale of HCA properties as the company restructured, HCA earned $271 million, or 50 cents per share, up from $223 million, or 40 cents a share, a year ago.

Analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial/First Call had predicted earnings of 46 cents per share for the quarter that ended June 30.

"Strong patient volume and revenue growth contributed to another extremely successful quarter," said Jack Bovender, HCA's chief executive officer and president. "The strong demographics in our markets continue to provide the company with significant opportunities to invest in new services and capacity to meet the needs of our local communities."

Second-quarter revenues rose 8 percent to $4.48 billion for HCA, owner of Sunrise and MountainView hospitals in Las Vegas.

The Nashville-based company began a major restructuring after a federal fraud investigation caused profits and stock prices to tumble nearly four years ago. Two executives were convicted in Florida in 1999 of helping cheat federal health care programs out of $3 million in a complex billing scheme.

HCA agreed last year to plead guilty to defrauding government health care programs and pay more than $840 million in criminal fines, civil penalties and damages.

But in a counterclaim filed in U.S. District Court in Washington earlier this year, HCA said the government owes it money for more than 1,000 reports the company has filed with Medicare since 1994.

Slump affects restaurants' earnings

The parent company of Morton's of Chicago and Bertolini's Authentic Tratoria restaurants reported a loss of $1.5 million, 37 cents a share, on revenue of $57 million for the company's second quarter ended July 1.

Morton's Restaurant Group Inc., New Hyde Park, N.Y., which operates a Morton's of Chicago steak restaurant and two Bertolini's Italian restaurants in Las Vegas, blamed the nationwide economic downturn for a 9.6 percent decrease in revenues for the quarter from the same period a year ago.

In the same quarter in 2000, the company reported a loss of $2.1 million, 43 cents a share, on revenue of $58.6 million.

"As leaders in the fine-dining segment of the hospitality industry, we are confronted by the most difficult and challenging operating environment in our company's history," said Allen Bernstein, chairman, president and chief executive officer of Morton's Restaurant Group.

The company said the third quarter could also be affected if economic conditions don't improve. Morton's had not experienced a decline in quarterly comparable restaurant revenues since the first quarter of 1991.