Student Loan posts higher 4Q profit

STAMFORD, Conn. (AP) _ Student Loan Corp., an educational lender, posted Friday a 9 percent increase in fourth-quarter profits spurred by a hefty increase in interest income. <br/><br/>Net income for the

Friday, January 20th 2006, 10:43 am

By: News On 6

STAMFORD, Conn. (AP) _ Student Loan Corp., an educational lender, posted Friday a 9 percent increase in fourth-quarter profits spurred by a hefty increase in interest income.

Net income for the three months ended Dec. 31 rose to $79 million, or $3.95 per share, compared with $72.7 million, or $3.64 per share, a year earlier. Student Loan said the increase was mainly due to after-tax gains of $25.7 million on securitizations and other asset sales, which offset an after-tax reduction of $9.4 million in floor income and $10.1 million due to spread reductions and other factors.

Total net revenue jumped 8 percent to $169.7 million from $158.8 million with interest income coming in at $354.6 million, up 33 percent from $265.9 million.

Student Loan also posted a higher fiscal profit, with full-year earnings rising 8 percent to $309 million, or $15.45 per share, versus $285 million, or 14.25 per share.

Revenue rose 7 percent to $635.7 million from $594.5 million. Interest income surged 39 percent to $1.3 billion from $939.2 million. The company's loan-loss provision rose to $5.3 million from $1.5 million.

Also for the year, the company's managed student loan assets grew 14 percent to $30.5 billion. Student Loan's provision for loan losses grew to $13.2 million for the year.

Citibank N.A., a subsidiary of Citigroup Inc., is the largest shareholder in the company with an 80 percent interest.