PacifiCare’s Quarterly Profit Rises 36% to $26.8 Million

PacifiCare Health Systems Inc., the Cypress managed-care organization, reported a profit of $26.8 million, or 95 cents a share, for its latest fiscal quarter. That was up 36% from earnings of $19.7 million, or 71 cents a share, for the same period a year earlier. Revenue for the company’s third quarter, which ended June 30, increased 31% to $752.3 million from $575.7 million. For the first nine months of its fiscal year, the company’s profit totaled $68 million, or $2.43 a share, which included a gain of $5.7 million from an accounting change. That compared to a profit of $45.6 million, or $1.64 a share, for the corresponding three quarters of the previous year. Nine-month revenue rose 31% to $2.1 billion from $1.6 million.