SLM Holding Corp., the student loan financier...

SLM Holding Corp., the student loan financier better known as Sallie Mae, said second-quarter core earnings rose 19% to $132.7 million, or 78 cents a share, from a year ago, as it sold more loans packaged as securities and cut operating expenses. Core earnings exclude government subsidies that keep the rates on student loans from falling below a given level. The results were a penny short of analyst estimates.