Computer Sciences

Computer Sciences Corp. said a large one-time gain nearly tripled its profits in the fiscal third period and nearly doubled them in the nine-month period ended last Dec. 28.

The El Segundo-based computer services firm said quarterly earning rose to $12.4 million, compared to $4.2 million in the year-earlier period. Nine-month earnings hit $20.5 million, compared to $11.2 million in the first nine months of last year.

An after-tax gain of $8.64 million resulted when Computer Sciences sold its Paid Prescriptions Inc. subsidiary last December for $28 million in cash and stock. Excluding the extraordinary gain, Computer Sciences’ earnings would have been down slightly in the quarter and up slightly for the nine months.

The company blamed the operating results in the quarter on higher-than-expected expenses in its California Medicaid operations, lower operating margins on federal contracts and reduced revenue from international operations.

Revenue for the quarter was $179 million, up 6% over last year, while nine-month revenue was $525 million, off less than 1% from a year ago.