Real Estate Gains Help Venator Beat Earnings Estimates by a Penny

Property sales helped keep

Venator

(Z) - Get Report

in the game despite posting weak operating income.

The sporting goods retailer, which owns

Foot Locker

and

Champs

, reported second-quarter income from continuing operations of 4 cents a share, beating the seven-analyst estimate of 3 cents but below the year-ago 7 cents. A spokeswoman for the company told

Reuters

that second-quarter 1999 operating figures included $25 million in real estate gains, mostly from property sales. Last year's numbers reflected no real estate gains.

The company said its losses including restructuring charges totaled $31 million, or 23 cents per share, wider than the year-ago loss of $13 million, or 9 cents. Sales advanced slightly to $1.06 billion from the year-ago $1.04 billion. Venator, which has sold underperforming stores like

Kinney

and

Footquarters

, said on Monday it plans to exit eight non-core businesses with about 500 stores.

In other postclose news (earnings estimates from

First Call

; earnings reported on a diluted basis unless otherwise specified):

Earnings/revenue reports and previews

American Eagle

(AEOS)

posted second-quarter earnings of 35 cents a share, beating both the nine-analyst estimate of 31 cents and the year-ago 20 cents.

Longview Fibre

(LFB)

posted third-quarter earnings of 8 cents a share, below the three-analyst estimate of 14 cents and unchanged from the year-ago 8 cents.

Photronics

(PLAB) - Get Report

reported third-quarter earnings of 14 cents a share, below the 12-analyst estimate of 16 cents and the year-ago 24 cents.

Mergers, acquisitions and joint ventures

Computer component maker

Smart Modular Technologies

(SMOD)

announced its plans to purchase a product line from

Compaq

(CPQ)

. The company would not discuss the terms of the deal, but said it was "not material to Compaq's financial results." Smart posted third-quarter earnings of 31 cents a share, a penny below the eight-analyst estimate of 32 cents, and up from the year-ago 20 cents. The company also reported a 57% rise in profits.

Wireless telecom equipment maker

Watkins-Johnson

(WJ)

announced the sale of its telecommunications unit to Britain's

General Electric Co. Plc

for $57.9 million. The pact's terms call for the group, which produces government intelligence and surveillance equipment, to be sold to General Electric's

Marconi North America

. Watkins-Johnson said since Marconi was owned by a foreign company, and the unit for sale had many U.S government contracts, the deal required government approval. Watkins-Johnson said that this is another step toward selling itself off.

Offerings and stock actions

eMed Technology

said it filed with the

Securities and Exchange Commission

to sell $57.5 million worth of common stock in an IPO. The company did not give a preliminary price range or specific size for the offering, stating that the $57.5 million worth of common stock noted was an estimate to tabulate the SEC registration fee. The service allows doctors to transmit X-rays and other medical images via the Internet.

Donaldson Lufkin & Jenrette

will be the lead underwriter for the deal.

First Bancorp

(FBNC) - Get Report

declared a 3-for-2 stock split to be paid on Sept. 13 for shareholders of record on Aug. 30. First Bancorp said the split will add more than 1.5 million shares to the 4.5 million outstanding shares.

Onsale

(ONSL)

shares climbed in post-trading hours, in line with the company's forecast that it would report revenue growth in the next two quarters. Shares of Onsale were up at 18 on

Instinet

from Wednesday's closing price of 16 1/4.

Egghead.com

(EGGS)

, which forged a $400 million stock merger with Onsale, traded at 8, up from its 7 3/4 close.