EARNINGS NEWS

Northrop Grumman Corp. (NOC: chart), defense company, announced that Hurricanes Katrina and Rita will lead to a 25-to-30-cents-a-share charge in Q3 and repairs will amount to approximately $1 billion. The company revised its guidance for 2005 earnings to the range of $3.55 to $3.65 a share, down vs. a previous outlook of between $3.90 and $4 a share. The company stated it envisages a total hurricane impact on 2005 earnings of 40 cents a share, with work delays accounting for 8 cents of that total. Northrop announced that hurricanes will not damage its overall financial performance.

Nordic American Tanker Shipping Ltd. (NAT: chart), oil tanker shipper, posted Q3 net income on Monday of 26 cents a share, down from 57 cents a share in the same period last year missing analysts’ expectations of 43 cents a share. The company announced that its Q3 dividend would be 60 cents a share, payable Nov. 17 to shareholders of record on Nov. 2.

W.R. Berkley Corp. (BER: chart), insurance holding company, announced after the closing bell on Friday that it anticipates losses in Q3 of 24 cents a share after-tax, due to Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. The company's pre-tax estimates involve losses of $35 million incurred from Katrina and $15 million from Rita, and are net of applicable reinsurance and reinstatement premiums.

Dominion Homes Inc. (DHOM: chart), single family homes builder, announced after Friday's closing bell that its Q3 earnings will miss analysts’ expectations of 38 cents a share, due to lower-than-expected home sales and deliveries. The company stated that it sold 433 homes in Q3, down from 598 homes a year earlier, a decline of 28%. The sales value of the homes sold during Q3 declined 25%, to $81.8 million from $109.4 million in the year-ago period.

Unisys Corp. (UIS: chart), provider of services and technology to commercial businesses, announced that it would post a Q3 loss of 7 cents to 9 cents a share, including a two-cent charge for a change in debt redemption, missing analysts’ forecasts of a loss of 4 cents a share. The company had previously forecasted earnings of 4 cents to 6 cents a share. The net loss, including pension expense, would amount to 16 cents to 18 cents a share. Revenue would drop 4% on lower-than-anticipated results in both its services and technology businesses.

Mercantile Bank Corp. (MBWM: chart), banking services company, reported on Monday that Q3 net income advanced to 56 cents a share, up vs. 41 cents in the year-ago period on revenue growth, matching analysts’ estimate. Net interest income rose 30% while non-interest income came to a 15% increase over the comparable period last year.

CORPORATE NEWS

Lincoln National Corp., insurance provider, has agreed to buy Jefferson-Pilot Corp. for $7.5 billioni, or $55.48 a share in cash and stock. The deal is one of the most significant in recent times and will create one of the nation's biggest public life-insurance companies.