WellPoint Profit Soars 71% as Plan Enrollment Increases

WellPoint Health Networks Inc., the biggest publicly traded Blue Cross Blue Shield health plan, said Wednesday that second-quarter profit soared 71% on higher enrollment in its health plans.

The Thousand Oaks-based company said earnings surged to $170.7 million, or $1.12 a share, from $99.9 million, or 75 cents, a year ago. Analysts were expecting $1.08 on average, according to Thomson First Call.

Enrollment rose 27% to 13 million, boosted by the company’s buying spree, which have gobbled up Blue Cross Blue Shield of Missouri, HealthLink and MethodistCare of Texas. Revenue jumped 37% to $4.2 billion in the quarter.

WellPoint has been aggressive in efforts to stem spiraling health-care costs, exemplified by its high-profile battle to push federal regulators to allow Schering-Plough Corp.’s Claritin allergy drug to be sold over the counter to save costs.

The HMO sector is one of the most prosperous, and industry leaders are expected to meet estimates on profit goals, said Eric Veiel of Deutsche Bank, who holds no WellPoint shares.

“The numbers are good as we expected. This year there have been less signs of irrational pricing in the marketplace,” Veiel said.

WellPoint shares rose $5.16 to to $75.76 on the New York Stock Exchange, before the results were released.

* Unocal Corp. said second-quarter net income fell 54% as oil and natural gas prices were down from a year ago, but the performance exceeded Wall Street expectations.

The El Segundo-based oil and gas explorer reported net income of $114 million, or 46 cents a share, down from $247 million, or 99 cents, a year earlier. Excluding one-time items, earnings fell to 55 cents from 92 cents but beat the 51-cent average forecast of analysts polled by Thomson First Call. Revenue fell 7% to $1.36 billion.

Unocal also said it expects earnings of 45 cents to 55 cents for the third quarter and $1.70 to $1.90 for the year. Analysts have forecast 47 cents and $1.65, respectively.

* Fidelity National Financial Inc. of Santa Barbara, the nation’s largest title insurer, reported a 34% rise in second-quarter net income to $112.3 million, or $1.13 a share. Revenue rose 19% to $1.1 billion.

* Allergan Inc., the Irvine-based maker of the Botox anti-wrinkle treatment, posted second-quarter net income of $3.8 million, or 3 cents a share, down 83% from $21.9 million, or 16 cents, a year ago because of costs to spin off a medical device business, Advanced Medical Optics Inc.

Excluding those costs, earnings were 45 cents, a penny better than analysts expected. Revenue rose 14% to $475.7 million, boosted by a better-than-forecast 48% jump in sales of Botox.

Had it been a separate unit for the entire quarter, Advanced Medical would have reported earnings of $6.6 million, or 22 cents a share, down from $12.9 million, or 45 cents a share, last year. Sales edged down 1% to $137.7 million.

* Conexant Systems Inc. posted a narrower loss for its third quarter and said it will cut 400 jobs, or 15% of its work force, to cut costs and focus its chip business. The Newport Beach company lost $299.4 million, or $1.15 a share, compared with a loss of $744.9 million, or $3.02, a year ago. Revenue dipped 2.5% to $154 million. The job cuts will save about $20 million a year, Conexant said.

* Irvine home builder Standard Pacific Corp. posted second-quarter net income of $26 million, or 81 cents a share, compared to $26.3 million, or 85 cents a share, for the same quarter last year. Quarterly revenue increased 37% to a record $448 million.

* New Century Financial Corp., an Irvine financial services company, reported net income of $42.9 million, or $1.46 a share, for the second quarter, compared with earnings of $9.9 million, or 51 cents a share, for last year’s second quarter. Revenue more than doubled to $140.9 million.

* Irvine communications chip maker Intersil Corp. reported a second-quarter net loss of $18.3 million, or 15 cents a share, contrasted with net income of $1.2 million, or 1 cent a share, for last year’s second quarter. Revenue rose 22% to $144.3 million.

* Epicor Software Corp. in Irvine reported a net loss of $987,000, or 2 cents a share, for the second quarter, compared with earnings of $554,000, or 1 cent a share, for the same period last year. Sales fell 22% to $36.8 million.

* New Horizons Worldwide Inc., an Anaheim information technology training company, posted second-quarter net income of $372,000, or 4 cents a share, compared with earnings of $2.1 million, or 20 cents a share, for last year’s second quarter. Revenue fell 19% to $36.2 million.

* Rainbow Technologies Inc., an Irvine developer of security software products, posted a wider net loss of $44.9 million, or $1.69 a share, for the second quarter, compared with a lost of $2.3 million, or 9 cents a share, for last year’s second quarter. The bigger loss was attributed mainly to one-time charges and write-offs, mainly for discontinued businesses. Sales fell 7% to $31 million.

* Endocare Inc., an Irvine developer of diagnostic and treatment tools for cancer, posted second-quarter net income of $1.1 million, or 5 cents a share, contrasted with a net loss of $2.1 million, or 13 cents a share, for last year’s second quarter. Sales more than tripled to $11.4 million.

* Footwear maker Skechers USA Inc. said second-quarter earnings jumped 26% to $21.3 million, or 52 cents a share, exceeding analysts’ expectations of 41 cents, and boosted its full-year forecast to $1.73, 6 cents higher than Wall Street was anticipating.