Gladstone Capital 4Q Profit Falls

Gladstone Capital Corp., which lends money to small and medium sized businesses, said Monday its fiscal fourth-quarter profit tumbled as the value of its investments dropped.

For the three months ended Sept. 30, the company said the gain to its net assets fell to $739,000, or 5 cents per share, compared with $5.1 million, or 43 cents per share, during the same period a year earlier.

Analysts polled by Thomson Financial expected earnings of 44 cents per share, on average.

Gladstone said it generated net investment income of $5.7 million, compared with $4.9 million in the year-ago period.

For the full fiscal year, the company said the gain on its net assets was $15 million, or $1.13 per share, compared with an increase of $24.4 million, or $2.10 per share, last year.

Investment income for the year rose to $22.3 million, from $19.4 million a year earlier.

Analysts forecast earnings of $1.74 per share, according to Thomson.

Gladstone Capital shares fell 11 cents to $19.48 during the regular session.