Diluted Share

Bell Atlantic Corp., the nation's largest local telephone company, reported yesterday that in the fourth quarter it earned $1.06 billion, or 65 cents per diluted share.This was a 12.7 percent increase from the same quarter in 1997, when New York-based Bell Atlantic had net income of $940 million, or 60 cents per diluted share.When one-time costs such as expenses from the 1997 merger with Nynex Corp. are excluded, Bell Atlantic's net income for its most recent quarter rises to $1.1 billion, 69 cents per diluted share.

Legg Mason Inc. announced Monday a profit for the three months ending June 30, reversing five straight quarterly losses as a market rebound, lower operating costs and improved performance of its key mutual funds helped the Baltimore money manager. Net income was $50.1 million, or 35 cents per diluted share, compared to a net loss of $36.1 million, or 26 cents per diluted share, in the corresponding period last year. "While our mission is not fully accomplished, we are pleased to return Legg Mason to profitability," Chief Executive Officer and Chairman Mark R. Fetting told analysts during a conference call.

Columbia Bancorp reported yesterday that its core profit jumped 30.5 percent to $2.08 million, or 29 cents per diluted share, in the quarter that ended Sept. 30. That was up from a profit of $1.59 million, or 22 cents per diluted share, in the corresponding period a year earlier. In the nine-month period, the company's profit rose 20.5 percent to $5.5 million, or 77 cents per diluted share, before $2.31 million in merger-related charges. The nine-month results include one-time pretax charges of $2.31 million recorded in connection with the completion of the merger of Suburban Bancshares into Columbia on March 8. A second area bank, Baltimore-based First Mariner Bancorp, reported $181,000 in profit, or 6 cents per diluted share, for the quarter, compared with profit of $251,000, or 7 cents per diluted share, posted for the corresponding period a year earlier.

Black & Decker Corp.'s first-quarter profit plunged 93 percent as a weak economy hurt sales of its power tools and other products much worse than it had anticipated. Executives at the Towson-based company don't believe the economy will improve any time soon, saying they expect sales to decline just as much in the second quarter as the first three months of the year. The company also lowered its outlook for the year. The company on Thursday reported earnings for the quarter that ended March 29 of $4.9 million, or 8 cents per diluted share.

Carrollton Bancorp reported yesterday that its second-quarter earnings were practically wiped out by a $1.2 million after-tax loss from an alleged check-kiting scheme by one of its commercial customers. The community bank said its profit for the three months that ended June 30 decreased 91 percent to $58,000, or 2 cents per diluted share, from $634,000, or 22 cents per diluted share, for the second quarter last year. Still, the bank's second-quarter net income was higher than the company's initial estimate of $18,000 when it first alleged the check-kiting operation last month.

Despite higher expenses related to a recent acquisition, Columbia Bancorp's profit rose 23.8 percent in the second quarter, spurred by strong gains in lending, the company said yesterday. Columbia made $1.77 million in the quarter that ended June 30, or 25 cents per diluted share, after merger-related expenses, compared with $1.43 million, or 20 cents per diluted share, in the corresponding period a year earlier. Net income before merger-related fees was $1.81 million, or 25 cents per diluted share, 26.6 percent higher than the corresponding quarter last year.

The Rouse Co.'s retail, office and community development units all helped the Columbia-based real estate investment trust finish the year on an up note. Rouse said yesterday that its funds from operations (FFO) in 2000 were $252.6 million, compared with $223.4 million in 1999. That's $3.30 a diluted share, or 17 percent above the $2.82 per diluted share the year before. The FFO in the fourth quarter, which ended Dec. 31, came in at $64.4 million, compared with $57.4 million in the fourth quarter of 1999.

SafeNet Inc., which provides security to companies that do business over the Internet, said yesterday that its fourth-quarter earnings and revenue broke company records. The Baltimore County company reported net income of $2.7 million, or 36 cents per diluted share, for the quarter that ended Dec. 31, compared with a net loss of $643,000, or 11 cents per diluted share, for the corresponding quarter of the previous fiscal year. SafeNet's revenue for the quarter was nearly double that of the 1999 quarter, rising from $4.5 million to $8.9 million.

First Mariner Bancorp., which has grown swiftly since it was founded five years ago, said yesterday that second-quarter profit fell 21.9 percent because of higher interest rates and expenses. The Baltimore banking company made $189,000 in the second quarter that ended June 30, or 6 cents per diluted share, compared with $242,000, or 7 cents per diluted share, in the corresponding period a year earlier. Profit in the first half of the year fell 45.8 percent to $240,000, or 8 cents per diluted share, compared with $443,000, or 13 cents per diluted share, in the first half of last year.

Sodexho Marriott Services Inc., which formed in March, reported a net income loss of $16.9 million for the 22 weeks that ended Aug. 28.Excluding $22 million in merger-related costs, Sodexho Marriott posted an operating profit of $5.1 million, or 8 cents per diluted share, for the period.For the same period last year, the enterprises that now make up Sodexho Marriott posted a net loss of $2.2 million, or 4 cents per diluted share.Bethesda-based Sodexho Marriott was formed seven months ago when Marriott International Inc. completed the spinoff of its lodging, senior living and distribution businesses to its stockholders.

Martek posts slight 1Q earnings gain Martek Biosciences Corp., the Columbia-based maker of nutritional oils for foods and baby formula, said its first-quarter earnings increased slightly as it moved beyond the infant formula market. The company reported net income of $9.6 million, or 29 cents per diluted share, for the quarter ended Jan. 31. That compared with $8.7 million, or 26 cents per diluted share, during the corresponding period a year ago. Revenues were $87.4 million, up 5 percent from a year ago. Martek expects second-quarter revenues to be between $87 million and $92 million and net income between $8.9 million and $10.3 million.

Sinclair Broadcast Group said yesterday that it has eliminated 200 jobs, or 7 percent of its work force, and suspended its quarterly dividend to cut costs as it expects falling advertising revenues this year amid a recession. Besides layoffs, the Hunt Valley broadcaster is cutting back on capital expenditures, freezing salaries, and reducing promotional spending and travel. David Amy, Sinclair's chief financial officer, declined to provide further details yesterday. Such moves are expected to save the company $19 million but are not enough to offset the decline in advertising, particularly in a nonelection year, Sinclair said.

Martek income is down Columbia-based Martek Biosciences Corp. reported yesterday net income of $10.5 million, or 31 cents per diluted share, for the fourth quarter that ended Oct. 31, down from $18.3 million, or 55 cents per diluted share in the fourth quarter of 2007. The manufacturer of infant formula reported revenue of $90.4 million, up 10 percent from $82 million in the corresponding period in 2007. Excluding the impact of tax benefits, the company's net income would have been $8.9 million, or 27 cents per diluted share, compared with $7.5 million or 23 cents per diluted share in the fourth quarter of 2007.

Baltimore's T. Rowe Price Group saw its quarterly profit drop for the first time in five years as continued market volatility hurt the value of its assets and clients pulled back on making new investments. The money manager, which analysts said still performed better than many of its peers, reported yesterday that net income fell 12.6 percent to $152.8 million, or 56 cents per diluted share, in the three months that ended Sept. 30, compared with a profit of $174.8 million, or 63 cents per diluted share, in the year-ago period.

Legg Mason Inc. suffered its first quarterly loss in the public company's 25-year history after spending millions to support several of its money market funds hampered by mortgage-backed debt. The Baltimore asset manager reported yesterday a bigger-than-expected loss of $255.5 million, or $1.81 per diluted share, in the fiscal fourth quarter that ended March 31, compared with a net profit of $172.5 million, or $1.19 per diluted share, in the corresponding period last year. Besides more cash infusions to shore up its troubled money market funds, yesterday's results showed investors continuing to pull money from underperforming stock funds overseen by star managers, such as Bill Miller and Bruce Sherman.

Penny-pinching consumers have switched from McCormick & Co.'s gourmet spices to company products that are more economically priced. They're also eating out less at the restaurants where McCormick supplies spices, flavorings and condiments. But by raising prices, McCormick managed to offset weaknesses in the economy as well as higher costs for commodities. And it allowed the local food company to report yesterday a 16 percent increase in fiscal first-quarter earnings. Net income for the three months that ended Feb. 29 was $51.4 million, or 39 cents per diluted share.

Columbia Bancorp, the parent company of Columbia Bank, said yesterday that its net income rose 11.9 percent to $1.35 million in the fourth quarter of 1999. The Columbia-based banking company's net income for the three months ending Dec. 31, which translates to 30 cents per diluted share, was up from net income of $1.2 million, or 26 cents per diluted share, in the fourth quarter of 1998. Adam C. Barkstrom, an equity analyst with Legg Mason Wood Walker Inc., said the company beat his projection of earnings per share by 1 cent for the quarter and the year.

A month after Provident Bankshares Corp. wrote off nearly $48 million in soured mortgage-related investments and said it did not anticipate any more, the Baltimore bank announced last night that it could take additional charges of up to $47.7 million in the first quarter. Maryland's largest independent bank said it could write down some or all of the remaining $32.