First Data Corp.: The world’s largest credit-card payment processor said first-quarter profit fell 23 percent as expenses increased and the company failed to repeat a gain from the sale of a unit last year. Net income declined to $374.5 million, or 47 cents a share, from $483.5 million, or 61 cents, a year earlier, Greenwood Village-based First Data said in a statement. Revenue rose 9.7 percent to $2.48 billion, and expenses climbed 8.9 percent to $2 billion.
E.W. Scripps Co.: E.W. Scripps said first-quarter sales jumped 14 percent as the company commanded higher fees from cable operators and sold more advertising. The shares surged 7 percent. Net income in the three months ending in March fell less than 1 percent to $70 million, or 42 cents a share, compared with $70.5 million, or 43 cents, a year earlier, Cincinnati-based Scripps said in a statement. Scripps, publisher of The Rocky Mountain News, and Media News Group, publisher of The Denver Post, share ownership in the Denver Newspaper Agency, which oversees operations at both newspapers under a joint operating agreement. Scripps’ proceeds from its joint operating agreements, including the DNA, came in at $8 million in the first quarter, up 37 percent from the first quarter of 2004.
Southwest Airlines: With fuel hedges and a March Easter providing a tail wind, Southwest Airlines Co. nearly trip led its first-quarter earnings – making it one of the few profitable U.S. carriers. Dallas-based Southwest said Thursday that it earned $76 million, or 9 cents a share, in the January-March period, up from $26 million, or 3 cents a share, a year earlier. Revenue rose 12 percent to $1.66 billion.
Apple Computer: Apple shares fell $3.78, or 9.2 percent, to close at $37.26 in Thursday trading on the Nasdaq Stock Market. The shares lost $1.62 on Wednesday, and the stock continues to slip from its 52-week high of $45.44, set Feb. 17. Cupertino, Calif.-based Apple reported Wednesday that it earned $290 million, or 34 cents per share in the quarter. In the same period a year ago, the company earned $46 million, or 6 cents per share. Revenue was a record $3.24 billion, up from $1.91 billion a year ago.
