Earnings briefs for July 26, 2004

Monday, July 26, 2004 | 10:48 a.m.

Vegas operators post good numbers

Capitol Bancorp Ltd. reported record second-quarter net income of $6.9 million, or 47 cents per share. That's up from $5.7 million, or 45 cents per share, a year ago.

Total assets were $2.99 billion at the end of the quarter, up from $2.74 billion a year ago.

Lansing, Mich.-based Capitol Bancorp is the parent company of four Las Vegas-area banks -- Bank of Las Vegas, Black Mountain Community Bank, Red Rock Community Bank and Desert Community Bank.

Las Vegas-based Nevada First Bank, which has four local branches, reported second-quarter net income of $791,023, up from $704,918 in the same 2003 quarter.

Assets for the bank at the end of the second quarter reached $328 million, up from $248 million a year ago.

Earnings up 14 percent

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. -- Kellogg Co., the world's leading cereal producer, reported a 16-percent increase in net earnings for the second quarter, crediting the successful execution of its business strategy and continued sales growth.

Profits increased to $237.4 million, or 57 cents per share, compared with $203.9 million, or 50 cents per share, during the same period a year ago, the cereal maker said.

The results -- released today -- were 3 cents higher than the consensus forecast of 54 cents per share by analysts surveyed by Thomson First Call.

Sales rose 6 percent to $2.39 billion in the April-June quarter, from the $2.25 billion reported during the same three months of 2003.

Shares of Kellogg slipped in early trading, falling 24 cents to $39.99 on the New York Stock Exchange.

Earnings flat

WASHINGTON -- Fannie Mae, the largest source of U.S. mortgage money, last week said second-quarter profit was little changed after an almost $2 billion drop in the value of contracts designed to guard against swings in interest rates.

The government-chartered, shareholder-owned company also cut its earnings forecast for rest of the year, sparking the biggest drop in its stock price in more than a year.

Net income was $1.11 billion, or $1.10 a share, compared with $1.10 billion, or $1.09, a year earlier. So-called core earnings, or profit before gains or losses in the contracts, gained 1.9 percent to $1.90 billion, or $1.91 a share, said

Earnings double

SAN JOSE, Calif. -- A hefty surge in international sales helped eBay Inc. last week post second-quarter earnings that more than doubled, narrowly beating Wall Street's expectations.

But risks associated with overseas e-commerce -- including uneven seasonal shopping trends and competition from foreign rivals -- shook investors' confidence in eBay, one of the most stable dot-com stocks.

For the three months ended June 30, the online auction giant earned $190.4 million, or 28 cents per share, compared with $91.9 million, or 14 cents per share in the same period of 2003. Excluding special items, eBay earned $197.7 million, or 29 cents per share, up from $103.1 million, or 16 cents per share, in the first quarter of 2003.