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Richmond Times - Dispatch

Despite lower growth in its high-speed Internet business, Comcast Corp. reported second-quarter net income of $430 million, or 19 cents per share, up from $262 million, or 12 cents, a year ago.

Revenue rose 10.5 percent to $5.6 billion. Comcast posted gains in video revenue and Internet service revenue, but suffered a decline in revenue related to its digital phone service.

The largest U.S. cable provider added 507,000 television subscriptions in the latest quarter, up 22.1 percent from the 415,000 added last year.

The company has about 230,000 cable subscribers in the Richmond area and more than 50,000 high-speed Internet users. Philadelphia- based Comcast ended the quarter with 21.4 million customers, compared with 21.5 million a year earlier.

Shares of Comcast rose 39 cents to $31.00 on the Nasdaq stock market.

-- The Associated Press

NewMarket Corp.

Richmond-based NewMarket Corp. said its second-quarter profit rose 13 percent on an insurance settlement and higher petroleum- additives sales.

The fuel additives company reported profit of $13.1 million, or 76 cents per diluted share, compared with $11.4 million, or 66 cents per share, in the same period of 2004.

The results include a gain of $2.5 million, or 15 cents per share, from an insurance settlement. Excluding that, profit was $10.6 million or 62 cents per share.

Revenue rose to $271.8 million in the quarter from $221.5 million in the year-earlier period. The company said its petroleum additives sales rose 23 percent to $269 million, while tetraethyl lead sales declined from $3.4 million to $2.8 million.

For the six-month period, the company reported profit of $17.8 million or $1.03 per share, compared with $17.2 million or $1 per share in the first six months of 2004.

NewMarket's stock rose 31 cents to $17.35.

-- John Reid Blackwell

Performance Food Group

Performance Food Group reported second-quarter net earnings from continuing operations of $12.2 million, compared with $9.7 million in the year-earlier period.

Earnings per share in the three months that ended July 2 were 26 cents per share, compared with 21 cents per share in the prior-year period.

Sales from continuing operations were $1.46 billion, up nearly 13 percent from the year-ago period.

On June 28, the Richmond-based company completed the sale of its fresh-cut segment to Chiquita Brands International Inc.

Net earnings from discontinued operations, which include the gain on the sale of that segment, were $191.5 million, compared with $9.1 million in the year-earlier period. The net gain on the sale was $181 million.

In the first six months, profit from continuing operations was $16.9 million, up from $11.9 million in the prior-year period. Per- share earnings were 36 cents per share, compared with 25 cents per share in the same period a year ago. Revenue was $2.88 billion, up 14 percent.

Performance Food Group markets and distributes 64,000 national and private-label food and food-related products to restaurants, schools and other institutions.

Performance stock fell $1.18 to $28.53 yesterday.

-- Carol Hazard