Profit Up 19%, CSC Reports

Computer Sciences Corp. said its fiscal third-quarter profit rose 19% from restated results a year ago, buoyed by a rise in both commercial and government contracts during the latest quarter.

Profit from operations for the quarter ended Dec. 31 rose to $109.5 million, or 66 cents a share, from $91.7 million, or 55 cents, in the year-earlier period. Sales rose 15% to $2.36 billion.

Computer Sciences signed $3.5 billion in new contracts during the quarter, on top of the $10 billion it has signed since the fiscal year began in April. In October, the El Segundo-based company won a $644 million agreement to run computers for California’s San Diego County for seven years.

“Their business is very robust,” said Steve McClellan, an analyst with Merrill Lynch & Co. who rates Computer Sciences a “near-term buy.”

The results matched an average estimate of 66 cents from analysts surveyed by First Call/Thomson Financial.

Computer Sciences restated its year-ago results to account for an acquisition in November. A charge of $29.8 million, or 18 cents a share, for costs related to Computer Sciences’ $396-million acquisition of Nichols Research Corp. resulted in net income of $82.3 million, or 48 cents.

Ahead of the report, shares of CSC closed up $2.63 at $91.88 on the New York Stock Exchange.

At a Glance

Other earnings, excluding one-time gains or charges unless noted, include:

* Expedia Inc., the Internet travel affiliate of Microsoft Corp., reported a smaller-than-expected loss for the latest quarter and said it would buy two online travel companies, VacationSpot.com and Travelscape.com. Expedia, in its first quarterly results since its initial public offering in November, posted a loss of $5.9 million, or 16 cents a share, excluding noncash stock-based compensation costs of $17.3 million. Analysts were expecting a loss of 29 cents a share, according to First Call/Thomson Financial. Year-ago per-share figures were not available. Revenue climbed 127% to $17.8 million. Including costs, Expedia had a net loss of $23.2 million, or 64 cents a share. Expedia also said it would issue about 2.6 million shares and options, valued at about $82 million, for VacationSpot.com and about 3 million shares, options and warrants, valued at about $95 million, for Travelscape.com. Microsoft holds an 80% interest in Expedia.

* Fogdog Sports posted a fourth-quarter loss of $9.1 million, or 29 cents a share, on a pro forma basis, compared with a loss of $2.1 million, or 16 cents, a year ago. The results exclude noncash charges. The San Francisco-based company’s revenue soared to $4.4 million from $249,000.

* FreeMarkets Inc., a conductor of online auctions for industrial companies, reported a net loss of $8.3 million, or 26 cents a share, compared with net income of $145,000, or break even, in the year-earlier period. Revenue climbed 169% to $7.8 million as the company added new customers. Analysts were expecting a deeper loss of about 30 cents, according to the average estimate of four analysts surveyed by IBES International Inc. FreeMarkets shares fell $42.81 to $229 on Nasdaq.

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Reuters was used in compiling this report.