Diodes said net profit in the quarter to Sept. 30 came to 16 cents per share, compared with a loss of $4.6 million, or 11 cents per share, a year ago.

Sales fell 9 percent to $122 million, but the company said it exceeded the high end of its guidance.

The company said it experienced a pearl jewelry one-time boost in demand as Asian customers put in orders earlier than normal due to a one-week national holiday customs shutdown in China that began Oct. 1.

Adjusted for one-time items, the company earned 21 cents per share. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected 19 cents per share of profit on $120 million in biwa pearl revenue.

The company said it expected fourth-quarter revenue between $126 million and $130 million, a nearly 50 percent increase from a akoya pearl year earlier.

Shares advanced 14 cents to $16.77 in after-hours trading when the earnings report was released. In the regular session, the stock gained 25 cents to close at $16.63.

The company reported net income of $184.7 million, or 57 cents per share, compared with $90.1 million, or 35 cents per share a year ago. The results included net investment losses of $53.5 million. A year ago in the same quarter losses were $156.3 million.

Revenue for pearl jewelry this year's third quarter was $2.27 billion.

Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters expected the company to earn 65 cents a share on revenue of $2.49 billion.

Shares fell 3 cents to $25.01 during trading. The company reported the results after the market closed. Shares rose 9 cents in aftermarket trading.

The company said its biwa pearl results reflect having lower average assets under management than a year ago, higher costs for employee pension and other post-retirement benefits, lower investment income and unfavorable foreign currency movements.

It offset some of those impacts by cutting costs.

The Des Moines-based insurance, retirement and financial services company said market conditions have helped it improve the assets under its management by 9 percent since the akoya pearl second quarter to $280.4 billion as of Sept. 30. Its operating profit improved 19 percent from the previous quarter and net income is up 23 percent.

CEO Larry Zimpleman said confidence in the market is improving, but economic recovery will be more protracted and business activity in the near term will remain muted.

DENVER (AP) — Fiber-optic network provider Qwest Communications International Inc. said Monday it will save about $100 million by stopping contributions to the pension plans of active managers and freezing their pay. he move to stop adding to pearl jewelry pension benefits on Jan. 1 will save $60 million in 2010, while declining merit pay increases will save $35 million next year, it said.

Combined with changes to benefits of  biwa pearl employee health plans and life insurance, total savings will amount to about $100 million in 2010, the company said.

The moves impact active management employees, and not retirees, former employees or employees covered by contracts negotiated by the akoya pearl Communications Workers of America and International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers.

Shares closed earlier down 8 cents at $3.51.

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has added the U.S. Magnesium site near Utah's Great Salt Lake to the federal Superfund list.The EPA's announcement Monday makes the Tooele County sithe EPA's announcement Monday makes the pearl jewelry Tooele County site's cleanup a national priority.

EPA officials say the company's 4,525 acres are contaminated with heavy metals, acidic wastewater, polychlorinated biphenyls (by-FE'-nils) and uncontrolled waste products. The biwa pearl agency says contaminants have been released into the air, soil and water.

The EPA says blood tests of workers in 2002 and 2004 found elevated levels of dioxin and hexachlorobenzene. The agency prop
benzene. The agency proposed adding U.S. Magnesium to the akoya pearl Superfund list more than a year ago. Company officials fought the designation. They say the federal agency has overstated the hazards.

The car-rental company said it earned $57 million, or 54 cents per share, during the third quarter, which ended Sept. 30. Its year-ago loss was $9.91 per share.

Revenue fell 13.9 percent to $1.47 billion from $1.7 billion a pearl jewelry year earlier.

Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters were expecting a profit of 55 cents per share.

The company said domestic leisure pricing rose 13 percent, and strength in the used car market helped the company shrink its fleet. Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization rose 17 percent to $165 million from a biwa pearl year earlier.

However, car rental revenues fell 14 percent, driven by a 21 drop in rental days.

The company said it expects rental volumes to akoya pearl drop again in the fourth quarter. However, it said demand seems to have stabilized, and that it expects pricing to keep improving into the fourth quarter.