St. Ives Laboratories Post Small Third-Quarter Profit

St. Ives Laboratories’ third-quarter profit inched up 1% from a year earlier on a 5.5% sales gain.

The Chatsworth-based maker of shampoos and other personal-care products said net income in the quarter ended Sept. 30 was $1.3 million, or 19 cents a share, contrasted with $1.29 million, or 21 cents a share, a year ago. The per-share results fell because St. Ives had more shares outstanding than a year earlier because of its initial public offering in July.

Third-quarter sales rose to $24.5 million from $23.2 million.

For the first nine months of 1987, St. Ives’ earnings jumped to $3.9 million, or 63 cents a share, from $2.4 million, or 39 cents a share, a year earlier. Nine-month sales rose to $66.7 million from $59 million.