Apollo Group income drops as Phoenix enrollment falls

For-profit education company Apollo Group Inc. said its net income fell 60 percent in its fiscal fourth quarter, hurt by a sharp drop in enrollment at the University of Phoenix and higher costs.

The company also announced Tuesday that it is closing 115 locations due to shrinking enrollment and higher interest by students in taking courses online.

Apollo reported net income of $75.4 million, or 66 cents per share, for the three months ended Aug. 31. That compares with net income of $188.6 million, or $1.37 per share, a year earlier.

Excluding special items, Apollo’s earnings amounted to 52 cents per share.

Revenue fell 11 percent to $996.5 million from $1.12 billion.

Maine heating oil price rises 5 cents in past week to $3.75

Maine energy officials said the current statewide average cash price for home heating oil has risen by 5 cents per gallon in the past week.

The Governor’s Energy Office said this week’s average price is $3.75 per gallon, 25 cents higher than it was at the same time last year.

The energy office’s survey on Monday showed a range of prices across the state from a high of $3.92 to a low of $3.60 per gallon.

Dow Jones soars 127 points on good news in U.S., Spain

U.S. stocks finished higher Tuesday, with the Dow industrials scoring their biggest one-day gain since Sept. 13, buoyed by strong earnings from several major companies and reports that Spain is mulling a request for a line of credit from the European Union.

The blue-chip Dow Jones industrial average rallied 127.55 points, or 1 percent, to close at 13,551.78.

The benchmark index marked a third straight session of gains as well as its highest close since Oct. 8. Its gain was the largest since the day the Federal Reserve announced its third round of quantitative easing.

Several Dow companies reported generally robust earnings ahead of Tuesday’s opening bell, including Johnson & Johnson, UnitedHealth Group Inc. and Coca-Cola Co.

After the market closed Tuesday, though, International Business Machines and Intel Corp. posted third-quarter financial results, with both reporting a fall in revenue.

Ahead of the quarterly results, chip maker Intel was the top gainer in the Dow, rallying 2.9 percent.

Health care conglomerate Johnson & Johnson tacked on 1.4 percent. The company raised its per-share earnings estimate for the year.

The S&P 500 index gained 14.79 points, or 1 percent, to close at 1,454.92.

Anthony Lazzara, chief executive officer of Newport Beach, Calif.-based Lido Isle Advisors, pointed out that the S&P 500 has reached its key 1,450 level. “Yearly highs are close in sight, and we expect those to be breached soon,” he said.

Murphy Oil Corp. rallied 8 percent, the second-best gainer in the S&P 500, on news that the company’s board has approved the spinoff of its U.S. downstream unit.

The Nasdaq composite index climbed 36.99 points, or 1.2 percent, to 3,101.17.

— From news service reports