Also

* Computer Sciences Corp. said fiscal second-quarter profit fell almost 24% to $99.5 million, or 53 cents a share, from $130.5 million, or 68 cents, after a contract with Nortel Networks Corp. was canceled. Revenue rose 5% to $3.57 billion. Sales and profit were below Wall Street forecasts, and the El Segundo-based company’s stock, which closed down $2.75 at $53.50, slid almost 3% in after-hours trading. The company also announced that Chief Financial Officer Leon Level was stepping down, and it named Michael Keane, vice president of finance, to replace him. The company also provided third-quarter and fiscal 2006 guidance roughly in line with Wall Street estimates.

* Gemstar-TV Guide International Inc., buoyed by a big income tax benefit, posted a third-quarter profit of $51 million, or 12 cents a share, reversing a year-earlier loss of $98 million, or 23 cents. Sales fell to $171.6 million from $174 million, and the Hollywood-based company posted an operating loss of $4 million in its publishing unit, including its TV Guide magazine.

* New Century Financial Corp., one of the largest U.S. “sub-prime” mortgage lenders, said third-quarter profit rose 12% to $120.1 million, or $2.04 a share, helped by increased loan production and lower loan acquisition costs. The Irvine-based lender, which in September cut its full-year earnings forecast, reaffirmed its earnings and dividend outlook for 2005 and 2006 and also announced a 5-million-share stock buyback plan..

* Household product maker Clorox Co. said its fiscal first-quarter profit slid 11% to $109 million, or 71 cents a share, from $123 million, or 57 cents, hampered by rising costs for raw materials and energy. It also backed its financial forecasts for its current second quarter and full fiscal year. Sales at the Oakland-based maker of bleach and other cleaning products rose 5% to $1.1 billion. Earnings-per-share figures in the latest quarter benefited from a 29% decline in shares outstanding.