Ecology & Environment reports 4th-quarter profits up to $652,000: EARNINGS.(Financial report)

Byline: Dave Robinson

Oct. 31--Ecology & Environment's fourth-quarter profits jumped by 11 percent as a favorable federal tax audit offset the costs of closing its office in Venezuela.

The Lancaster-based environmental services firm said Tuesday its profits rose to $652,000, or 16 cents per share, during the quarter that ended in July, compared with $589,000, or 14 cents per share, a year earlier.

Most of the rise in profits came from a one-time benefit of $510,000, or 12 cents per share, that resulted from Internal Revenue Service audits of its tax returns from the three previous fiscal years.

That offset an after-tax loss of $146,000, or …