ChoicePoint Posts 3Q Profit

The Alpharetta, Ga.-based company said Wednesday it earned $1.3 million, or 2 cents a share, for the three months ending Sept. 30, versus a loss of $72.2 million, or 86 cents a share, for the same period a year ago.

Earnings per share from continuing operations excluding other operating charges was 46 cents a share.

Revenue rose 3.6 percent to $270.8 million, compared to $261.5 million recorded a year earlier.

For the first nine months of the year, ChoicePoint said it earned $64.7 million, or 86 cents a share, versus a loss of $6.8 million, or 8 cents a share, for the same period a year earlier. Nine-month revenue rose 3.9 percent to $800.3 million, compared to $770.6 million recorded a year earlier.

For the full year, ChoicePoint said it expects earnings per share from continuing operations excluding other expenses and including stock option expense of $1.71 a share to $1.75 a share. It also expects full-year internal revenue growth of 2 percent to 3 percent.

ChoicePoint collects data on individuals, including Social Security numbers, real estate holdings and current and former addresses. It also offers businesses, government agencies and nonprofit organizations software technology and information designed to anticipate and respond to economic and physical risk, and it analyzes information for the insurance sector. Its database contains about 19 billion records.

ChoicePoint Inc.: