LOCAL BRIEFING

EARNINGS

MicroStrategy Reports Profit Gain, Buyback

MicroStrategy said second-quarter profit grew to $17.6 million ($1.12 a share) from $11.4 million (67 cents) in the comparable period a year earlier. The McLean business software firm said revenue rose 31.2 percent, to $65.4 million.

In separate announcements, MicroStrategy said its board of directors approved a plan that will allow the company to buy back up to $300 million of common stock over the next five years and that the final claim in a patent infringement suit brought against it by Business Objects was dismissed Tuesday.

CarrAmerica Realty Posts Slight Drop

CarrAmerica Realty, a District-based real estate investment trust, said funds from operations, a common measure of performance for REITs, fell to $42.3 million (69 cents) for the second quarter from $47.7 million (80 cents). The company, which owns and operates 290 office properties across the country, said net income fell 15 percent, to $11.9 million (14 cents) from $14 million (19 cents). Revenue fell slightly, to $119.8 million.

Federal Realty Investment Trust, a Rockville real estate investment trust, said its funds from operations rose to $41.2 million (77 cents) from $38.6 million (73 cents) in the second quarter. The company, which owns and manages more than 17 million square feet of retail in the Northeast, mid-Atlantic and California, said net income fell to $24.8 million (41 cents) from $26.3 million (45 cents). Revenue was up 2.9 percent, to $101.3 million.

Capital Automotive REIT said its funds from operations nearly doubled in its second quarter, to $37.1 million (67 cents) from $18.7 million (42 cents). The McLean firm, which invests in real estate underlying automobile dealerships, said that after dividends, net income rose to $21.7 million (49 cents) from $8.3 million (23 cents). Revenue grew 22.9 percent, to $59 million.

First Potomac Realty Trust, a Bethesda real estate investment trust, said funds from operations rose in its second quarter to $6.9 million (39 cents) from $2.6 million (25 cents). The company, which owns 6.3 million square feet of industrial and flex properties in the Washington area, said net income was up to $1 million (6 cents), compared with a net loss of $57,868 (1 cent). Revenue rose 120 percent, to $18 million.

Highland Hospitality, a McLean real estate investment trust, said its funds from operations increased to $9.5 million (24 cents) in the second quarter from $4.3 million (11 cents). Net income increased to $4.2 million (10 cents) from $2.2 million (5 cents). Revenue for the owner of 20 hotel properties in 11 states and Mexico more than doubled, to $63.2 million.

Trex, a Winchester-based maker of composite deck and railing products, lost $1 million (7 cents) in the second quarter, compared with a profit of $11.1 million (75 cents). Revenue fell 0.6 percent, to $82.9 million. Trex attributed the losses, in part, to bad weather that delayed the start of the "decking season" and higher-than-expected inventory levels.

EntreMed, a Rockville pharmaceutical company developing treatments for cancer and inflammation, said its second-quarter loss widened to $4.3 million (9 cents) from $4.2 million (12 cents) in the year-ago period. Revenue more than quadrupled, to $579,461.

NII Holdings of Reston said second-quarter profit increased to $30.5 million (40 cents) from $29.8 million (40 cents). Revenue rose 35.1 percent, to $410.7 million. The company, which sells Nextel's mobile phone services in Latin America, added more than 135,000 new subscribers in the quarter.

Educate said it swung to a second-quarter profit of $10 million (23 cents) from a loss of $487,000 (1 cent) in the second quarter last year. The Baltimore-based owner of Sylvan Learning centers, which was formed in 2003 and offered shares to the public last June, said revenue rose 18 percent, to $103.1 million.

Compiled from staff and news service reports.