Several companies, including some based in Utah or with ties to the state, reported quarterly financial results Thursday.
FranklinCovey
Salt Lake-based FranklinCovey reported net income available to common shareholders of $3.8 million, or 19 cents per share, for the quarter ended March 3. That compares with $8 million, or 39 cents per share, for the same quarter a year earlier.
The company said an increase in its effective tax rate significantly affected the income total for the most recent quarter.
Sales for the productivity products and services company totaled $76.9 million, down from $78.3 million a year ago.
FranklinCovey stock rose 10 cents Thursday to close at $8.07 per share. During the past year, the price has ranged from $4.96 to $9.76.
Schiff Nutrition
Salt Lake-based Schiff Nutrition International Inc. reported net income of $3.2 million, or 12 cents per share, for the fiscal third quarter ended Feb. 28. That compares with the same figures from the year-earlier quarter.
Sales totaled $45 million, down from $49.6 million a year earlier.
The company develops, manufactures, markets and distributes vitamins, nutritional supplements and nutrition bars.
Schiff stock rose 4 cents Thursday to close at $6.90 per share. During the past year, the price has ranged from $5.15 to $7.98.
Rite Aid
Rite Aid Corp. reported a small fourth-quarter profit that missed expectations, and the nation's third-largest drugstore chain said it has agreed to divest two dozen stores in a deal for 1,850 Brooks and Eckerd stores that it expects to close in May.
Rite Aid said it agreed with Federal Trade Commission staff to shed the 24 stores in nine states, primarily in the Northeast, as part of the acquisition. The move is expected to satisfy antitrust concerns. The commission still must approve the deal, and Rite Aid remains in talks with state attorneys general, which could yield more divestitures.
The deal is now expected to close by the end of May, after Rite Aid originally predicted a fourth-quarter close, meaning Rite Aid can only count on nine months of revenue from the Brooks and Eckerd stores in the new fiscal year. Although Rite Aid said it had never counted on full-year revenue from the stores for fiscal 2008, some analysts had included it in their forecasts.
Still, the possible divestiture of 24 stores, mostly in the Northeast, was fewer than Rite Aid had planned, and makes the $3 billion deal more profitable because the Camp Hill-based chain said it now expects to save more money in efficiencies.
The company's shares rose 11 cents, or 1.77 percent, to close at $6.34 in trading Thursday on the New York Stock Exchange.
For the three months ended March 3, Rite Aid said it earned $7.1 million, or a penny per share. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial predicted a profit of 2 cents a share.
In the same period a year ago, the company reported a gain of $1.25 billion, or $1.83 per share, although all of it except for $5.3 million was attributed to one-time items, mainly a tax benefit.
Revenue for the quarter dropped 4.4 percent to $4.56 billion from $4.77 billion a year ago, which the company said was due to a shorter reporting period. In 2006, the fourth quarter measured 14 weeks while this year it was 13 weeks.
Sales in stores that were open at least a year rose 3 percent, with pharmacy sales up 4.1 percent, the company said.
Krispy Kreme
Krispy Kreme Doughnuts Inc. said its fourth-quarter loss narrowed as the doughnut maker continues its recovery from a bad stumble several years ago.
For the quarter ending Jan. 28, the Winston-Salem-based company said its net loss was $24.4 million, or 39 cents per share, compared with a net loss of $37.7 million, or 61 cents per share, in the year-earlier quarter. Revenue for the quarter was $112.2 million, down from $122.2 million a year earlier.
The results include a $16 million charge related to the previously announced settlement of a class-action litigation and partial settlement of shareholder derivative action.
Also during the quarter, Krispy Kreme recorded a $2.1 million provision for franchisees' accounts and a $1.3 million charge related to the proposed settlement of wage complaints lodged against the company.
Krispy Kreme shares closed up 35 cents Thursday, or 3.2 percent, to $11.29 on the New York Stock Exchange. In the past 52 weeks, shares have traded in range from $7.14 to $13.93.
Contributing: The Associated Press; Brice Wallace