National Education’s Revenue Boosted by Increased Demand

IRVINE —  Its revenues boosted by increasing demand for its career-training and educational-advancement programs, National Education Corp. on Wednesday reported third-quarter profit of $3.3 million, equal to 11 cents a share. This contrasts with a year-earlier loss of $1.3 million, or 4 cents a share.

Quarterly revenue of $97.4 million was up 1.7% from $95.8 million in the July-September period of 1990.

Company officials could not be reached for comment Thursday, but a written statement issued by the firm said its operations showed improved profitability despite a worsening economy.

Growing national unemployment numbers can provide a boost to companies such as National Education because workers who have lost jobs often enroll in vocational programs to learn a new trade while workers seeking to preserve their positions often enroll in trade or academic courses to increase their value to their employers.

For the first nine months this year, National Education reported a net loss of $3.6 million, or 12 cents a share, contrasted with a loss of $16.1 million, or 54 cents a share, in the first three quarters of 1990.

The company statement said the 1990 nine-month loss included a one-time payment of $5.3 million to settle severance and benefit claims by former chairman H. David Bright.