Insurance Auto Auctions Made 3rd-Quarter Profit

Insurance Auto Auctions Inc., a North Hollywood operator of vehicle auctions for the insurance industry, said it earned $1.2 million in its third quarter on a 51% increase in revenue, to $15.9 million from $10.5 million.

The profit for the three months that ended Sept. 30 contrasts with a loss of $12.1 million in the same quarter a year earlier because of certain non-operating, one-time charges.

Insurance Auto said last year’s third-quarter loss, which included a $9.9-million buyout of an employment agreement charged to that quarter, was related to the company’s initial public stock offering last year. Excluding those one-time charges, the company earned $615,000 in the third quarter a year ago.

Through three quarters of this year, the company posted earnings of $3 million, in contrast to a loss of $11.7 million a year earlier. If those one-time charges are excluded from last year’s third quarter, the company said, it earned $1.67 million.

In the first three quarters of this year, Insurance Auto said, it had sales of $43.3 million, up 37% from $31.6 million a year earlier.