Nutrition 21 Inc., a nutritional supplements company based in Purchase, said that it expects to report a net loss for its fiscal fourth quarter of about $4 million before taking into account an impairment charge for intangible assets.

Operating profit for the fiscal year is expected to be positive before the impairment charge, the company added. Nutrition 21 said that it expects revenues of about $5.5 million for the quarter.

Weakness in fertilizer markets contributed to sharply lower earnings at Bunge Ltd., the White Plains-based agribusiness giant that is major fertilizer supplier to Brazilian farmers.

Bunge reported net income of $313 million, or $2.28 a share, during the second quarter. That was down 58 percent from net income of $751 million, or $5.45 a share, a year earlier. Sales fell 23 percent to $11 billion.

Farmers cut back on their harvests last year after commodity prices plunged in response to the credit crisis and one of the worst economic crises since the Great Depression. With farmers planting less, that ate into the demand for the fertilizers and other agricutural products that Bunge sells to farmers.

Lower fertilizer prices contributed to a $53 million loss in Bunge’s fertilizer business during the quarter, a sharp reversal from the profit of $393 million a year earlier.

Other Bunge businesses also have suffered. Profits fell 33 percent in the company’s edible oil products unit, 75 percent in its milling products business and 27 percent in its agribusiness unit.

Alberto Weisser, Bunge’s chairman and chief executive officer, said that he is optimistic that business conditions in the agricultural markets will improve in the second half of the year.

“A large North American (soybean) harvest, which according to early indicators is likely, should provide us with ample volumes for our agribusiness operations in that region,” Weisser said in a written statement.

Nutrition 21 Inc., the Purchase company that markets nutritional supplements, said this morning it lost $400,000, or a penny a share, in its fiscal third quarter.

The loss was narrower than the $8.2 million, or 13 cents a share, reported for the third quarter of fiscal 2008.

Revenues dropped to $8.6 million from $10.8 million in the quarter that ended in March.

Michael A. Zeher, the president and chief executive of the company, said the weak economy was the main reason for the drop in revenues. But he said the company’s bottom line results “continue to show dramatic improvement.”

He said the company is pleased with sales of the Iceland Health branded products. Consumer purchases at the retail level of those products rose 29 percent, he said.

“Despite significant economic headwinds, we are demonstrating that our combination of strong branding, safe and efficacious products, and effective marketing support are driving strong results,” he said.

Tal International Group Inc., the Purchase company that leases freight containers and chassis, earned $16.6 milllion, or 52 cents a share, in the first quarter, compared with a loss of $3.8 million, or 12 cents a share, last year. On an adjusted basis, the company earned $13.4 million, down from $16.7 million last year.

An impairment charge and a general decline in business led to a sharp first-quarter loss at Drew Industries Inc. of White Plains, a supplier of parts for manufactured homes and recreational vehicles.
The company lost $36.7 million, or $1.70 a share, on sales of $71 million. For the comparable quarter a year earlier, Drew had net income of $9.11 million, or 41 cents a share, on sales of $159.1 million.
Driving most of the loss last quarter was a non-cash charge of $29.4 million, or $1.36 a share. The company announced last month that it was taking the charge because of uncertainties in the economy in general, and in the RV and manufactured home industries.

BioScrip Inc., the pharmacy benefits management company in Elmsford, earned $3.3 million, or 8 cents a share, turning around last year’s loss of $500,000, or a penny a share, the company said this morning.

But revenue dropped slightly to $325.7 million from $327.5 million, the company said.
A BioScrip shareholder said in a letter this week the company should cut costs while exploring a sale.

Anchor Capital of Raleigh, N.C., said in a letter to the BioScrip board that investors have lost confidence in management’s ability to cut costs and operate the company’s assets “at a reasonable level of profitability.”

The company’s shares were trading at $3.04 this morning, up 23 cents, or 8.2 percent. The shares have gained 37 percent on the year.

Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc., a drug development company in Eastview, said this morning it lost $17.5 million, or 22 cents a share, in the first quarter, compared with a loss of $11.6 million, or 15 cents a share, in the first quarter of 2008.

Total revenues increased to $75 million from $56.4 million in the same period of 2008. The company said the revenue came from contract research and development, technology licensing and net product sales.

Regeneron is working on new drugs with French drugmaker Sanofi-Aventis and Bayer HealthCare.

IntegraMed America Inc., the Purchase company that runs vein clinics and fertility centers, said this morning its first-quarter profit rose to $920,000 from $621,000.

On a per-share basis, the company earned 10 cents in this year’s quarter, compared with 7 cents last year.

Revenues rose to $52.36 million from $45.61 million.

IntegraMed’s chief executive, Jay Higham, said in a statement released by the company, “Our businesses continue to perform well in a challenging economic environment, reaffirming our strategy of focusing on emerging niche medical specialties.”

The company’s revenue from all three of its business units grew.

Revenue from the fertility center business, the largest unit, grew 11 percent to $36.3 million. The increase was driven by a 7.6 percent rise money taken in by centers open at least a year. In addition, the company got revenue from the addition of new clinics.

Revenues from IntegraMed’s vein clinics business grew 22.7 to $10.8 million compared to $8.8 million in the year-ago quarter.

Consumer services revenue grew 30 percent to $5.2 million.

Tompkins Financial Corp. of Ithaca, the owner of Mahopac National Bank and Tompkins Trustco, said it had first-quarter net income of $7.74 million, or 79 cents a share, on net interest income of $25.9 million. For the comparable quarter a year earlier, it had net income of $7.54 million, or 77 cents a share, on net interest income of $19.7 million.
The higher numbers partially reflect Tompkins’ acquisition in May 2008 of the parent company of Sleepy Hollow Bank, which was merged into Mahopac National.

Drew Industries Inc., the White Plains company that provides parts for recreational vehicles and manufactured homes, said it expects to take a non-cash goodwill charge against its first-quarter earnings.

The company said it is still calculating the charge but expects it to include “all or substantially all” of the $45 million in goodwill recorded on the balance sheet. If the entire goodwill balance is written off, the impairment charge would be $29 million, net of taxes, or $1.36 a share.

Fred Zinn, the company’s president and chief executive, said the charge will not affect Drew’s operations, liquidity, cash flows or borrowing under its credit agreements.

Joe Giordano, Drew’s chief financial officer, said the charge is “largely the result of uncertainties in the economy, and in the RV and manufactured housing industries.”

USA Bank of Port Chester reported a net loss of $2.7 million, or 47 cents a share, on net interest income of $5.8 million for fiscal 2008, compared to a net loss of $4.3 million, or 75 cents a share, on net interest income of $4.1 million in fiscal 2007.
The bank said it incurred a one-time expense of $554,000 to buy out its lease at 800 Westchester Ave. in Rye Brook. It said it expects to save more than $30,000 monthly over the 29 months remaining in the lease. It moved its staff to the bank’s main office in Port Chester and an office site in Greenwich, Conn.
The bank increased its loan loss reserve in the face of higher bad loans.
Non-performing loans totaled $9.7 million at the end of 2008, up from $3.6 million a year earlier. It raised its provision for loan losses from $985,000 at the end of 2007 to $1.5 million at the end of 2008.
USA Bank had assets of $209.9 million at year’s end.

The parent company of Provident Bank in Montebello reported higher profits and revenues in its fiscal second quarter, but also saw an increase in chargeoffs of bad loans as the economy worsened.
The parent, Provident New York Bancorp, had net income of $5.54 million, or 14 cents a share, on net interest income of $23.6 million for its quarter ending March 31. For the comparable quarter a year earlier, it had net income of $5.08 million, or 13 cents a share, on net interest income of $23.2 million.
Net chargeoffs increased to $4.3 million for the quarter, up from $1.9 million in the comparable quarter of 2008. The chargeoffs were centered in the small business loan portfolio, the bank said.
The bank increased its allowance for loan losses to $26.4 million, or 1.52 percent of loans outstanding.

Progenics Pharmaceuticals Inc., an Eastview-based biotechnology company, reported this morning that it lost $14.6 million during the fourth quarter of last year, compared to a loss of $15.3 million for the same period of 2007.

On a per-share basis, the company lost 49 cents in the quarter ending in December, down from 53 cents a year earlier.

For the year, the company lost $44.7 million, of $1.51 a share, last year, compared with $43.7 million, or $1.60 a share, in 2007.

Revenues for the fourth quarter were $6.8 million, down from $15.5 million.

Dr. Paul J. Maddon, the company’s chief executive, said the year was marked by the company getting its first drug approval from federal regulators.

“Progenics had a pivotal year in 2008 — most significantly with the approval of Relistor, our first commercial product, by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration,” he said. “Relistor is now approved in over 30 countries including the U.S., Canada, Australia and all member states of the European Union, and we are receiving royalties on worldwide sales.”

The company also completed the second phase of testing of PRO 140 for the treatment of HIV infection and started a study of a treatment for prostate cancer.

The results for the fourth quarter of last year include a $2.9 million reimbursement from Wyeth Pharmaceuticals in connection with a partnership the companies have for developing Relistor. In the fourth quarter of 2007, the company got $9.2 million from Wyeth.

Fourth-quarter earnings at IntegraMed America Inc. rose 35 percent to $1.16 million the company reported this morning.

On a per-share basis, the company, which runs fertility centers and vein clinics, earned 13 cents, up from 10 cents.

Revenues rose 11 percent to $50.3 million.

Revenues from the fertility centers portion of the business grew 9 percent to $34.14 million compared to 2007. Vein clinic revenues grew 11.3 percent to $10.69 million, the company said.

Revenues from consumer services rose 23 percent to $5.5 million.

Nutrition 21 Inc., the Purchase company that markets nutritional supplements under the Iceland Health, Chromax and Diabetes Essentials brands, earned $102,000 during the second quarter of its fiscal 2009, compared with a loss of $3.8 million, or 6 cents a share, a year earlier.

Revenues in the quarter that ended in December were $12.9 million, down from $13 million.

The company said the profit was largely due to a reduction in expenses, mainly advertising and promotion expenses. The company is trying to match its spending to its revenue growth.

Michael A. Zeher, the president and chief executive officer of the company, said in a statement: “We are pleased to have reported our second consecutive profitable quarter, particularly in light of the challenging current economic environment.”

“Sales of Nutrition 21 products to our major retailers increased 40 percent versus the comparable quarter last year,” he said. “We are pleased with the traction that our strategic operating plan is beginning to achieve in the retail space.”

MVC Capital Inc., a Purchase-based company that invests in small businesses, said that the weakness in the U.S. economy didn’t stop it from reporting solid results during the fiscal year ending Oct. 31.

Realized and unrealized gains for MVC were $60.8 million, primarily as a result of increased values of the companies in which it has invested.

MVC also benefited from the sale of key assets.

During the fiscal year, MVC said that it made four new investments and 11 follow-on investments, committing $126.3 million of capital. MVC also paid $11.6 million in distributions to shareholders.

“We are pleased with the results that we achieved during fiscal 2008, especially considering the challenging economic environment,” Michael Tokarz, chairman and portfolio manager of MVC, said in a written statement. “As we begin fiscal 2009, we are encouraged by the quality of our portfolio and are committed to maintaining our investment and operating disciplines.”

Haights Cross Communications Inc., the White Plains-based company that publishes educational and library materials, reported operating income of $10.5 million during the third quarter, up from $6.1 million a year earlier.

Revenue rose 3.1 percent to $49.1 million, reflecting strong sales to schools and libraries.

Revenue for the company’s test prepartion and intervention declined 2.4 percent during the quarter.

“With the weakened economy, we expect to see schools react to budgetary pressures, which could have an adverse impact on revenue,” the company said in a written statement.

USA Bank in Port Chester said it had lower losses in the third quarter and warned that near-term profitability would be “a major challenge.”
The commercial bank, founded in 2005, said it had a net loss of $118,000, or 2 cents a share, for the third quarter, compared to a net loss of $843,000, or 15 cents a share, in the comparable quarter a year earlier. Net interest income figures were not announced.
The bank said that total assets at the end of the third quarter grew 15 percent from the end of 2007, to $195.7 million. Deposits were up 24 percent from the end of 2007, to $151.9 million. The loan portfolio was up 40 percent from the end of 2007, to $149.6 million.
The bank said that its board of directors had negotiated a buyout of its administrative office lease at 800 Westchester Ave. in Rye Brook, and nearly all the staff would move to its Port Chester office. The rest will move to an office in nearby Greenwich, Conn.

LICT Corp., a Rye-based telecommunications and media company, reported net income of $2.07 million during the third quarter, down from $3.04 million a year earlier. Earnings per share of $83 fell from $121 a year earlier. Revenues of $26 million dropped from $26.4 million as the company faced a decline in interstate revenue, or out-of-state calling using its telephone network. The company added that it will pursue acquisitions that strategically fit its long-term objectives.

Presidential Life Corp. reported much lower earnings in the third quarter and cut its dividend payment to shareholders by half, citing an “uncertain economic climate.”

For the quarter ending Sept. 30, the Nyack-based insurer reported Thursday earnings fell to $625,000 from $14.6 million in the year-ago quarter. On a per-share basis, the company reported it earned 2 cents a share compared to 49 cents a share a year ago, a drop of 96 percent.

Presidential Life also said it was cutting its quarterly dividend payment, due to paid shareholders Jan. 1, to 6.25 cents a share from 12.5 cents a share.

The 50-percent decrease in the dividend marks the first change in the amount paid shareholders since February 2007, when Presidential Life boosted the quarterly payment to 12.5 cents a share from 10 cents a share.

Shares of the company, traded on the Nasdaq stock market, ended yesterday’s trading down 11 percent to $7.37 a share.

For the year, Presidential Life shares have lost 58 percent of their value.