News Summary: Discover posts higher 2Q profit
News Summary: Loan growth helps boost Discover Financial Services' 2Q net income by 13 percent
DISCOVER THIS: More loans and higher interest income helped lift Discover Financial Services' second-quarter profit by 13 percent.
THE NUMBERS: Discover posted a profit after paying preferred dividends of $588 million, or $1.20 per share, for the April-June period. Revenue net of interest expense climbed to $2.04 billion from $1.87 billion. Analysts polled by FactSet expected earnings of $1.15 per share on $2 billion in revenue.
NEW BUSINESS: Discover plans to begin offering home equity loans in the current quarter, but the move likely won't be a factor on its bottom line before next year.
