R Block Inc

H&R Block Inc., the largest U.S. tax preparer, said fiscal third-quarter earnings more than quadrupled to $132 million as it sold assets related to its mortgage business. The Kansas City, Mo.-based company earned 73 cents a share, compared with $29.6 million, or 16 cents, in the year-earlier period. Revenue increased 30.7% to $958.4 million. The company said it expected to earn $3.10 to $3.25 a share in fiscal 2003, an increase of its previous forecast. H&R Block shares fell 42 cents to $37.

Today * Treasury bill auction. * Toys R Us Inc. releases second-quarter earnings. * House Financial Services Committee holds hearing on terrorist financing. Tuesday * National Assn. of Realtors reports on existing-home sales for July. * H&R Block Inc. and H.J. Heinz Co. release earnings for their fiscal first quarters. Wednesday * Commerce Department reports on durable goods orders and new-home sales for July. * Williams-Sonoma Inc. releases second-quarter earnings.

CompuServe Corp., the nation's No. 2 online service, reported a loss for its fiscal fourth quarter, citing $9.2 million in one-time special charges and a decline in U.S. subscribers. The Columbus, Ohio-based unit of H & R Block Inc. said it lost $18 million, or 19 cents per share, in the quarter ended April 30, compared with a loss of $1.1 million, or 2 cents a share, in the year-ago quarter. Revenue fell to $208 million from $215 million.

Cable & Wireless Hires CEO: The British telecommunications company, hoping to find new direction after a boardroom battle and failed merger talks, has tapped American Richard Brown, the current chief of Kansas City, Mo.-based H&R Block Inc. Brown had been CEO at the tax preparer and parent company of the CompuServe online network for nine months.

H&R Block Inc., responding to New York and California regulators who said the nation's biggest tax preparer had overcharged clients, said Thursday that it would cut fees on refund loans by 40% and offer low-cost bank and retirement accounts. Charges for a typical $2,800 "refund-anticipation loan" will drop to $60 from about $100, Chief Executive Mark Ernst told shareholders at the company's annual meeting in Kansas City, Mo.

H&R Block Inc., the nation's largest tax preparer, delayed its fiscal second-quarter earnings report to give its new auditors time to review the numbers. But the company said it expected a much larger loss as its mortgage business continued to drag it down. A preliminary report said that H&R Block expected a net loss of $502.3 million, or $1.55 a share, for the quarter ended Oct. 31, compared with a loss of $156.5 million, or 49 cents, during the same period a year earlier. Of that loss, $366.

The Supreme Court ruled that usury claims in a lawsuit involving H&R Block Inc. customers who took out tax refund anticipation loans must be moved to federal court. The high court ruled for Beneficial National Bank, a unit of Household International Inc., which had joined the nation's leading tax preparer in making the loans.

H&R Block Inc. said its fiscal second-quarter loss shrank as improvement in its off-season tax service was offset by losses in its banking division. The nation's largest tax preparer reported losing $135.9 million, or 41 cents a share, during the quarter ended Oct. 31. By comparison, the Kansas City company lost $502.3 million, or $1.55 a share, a year earlier. The loss from continuing operations narrowed to $133.2 million, or 40 cents a share, from $134.9 million, or 42 cents a share.