private prison bulls

As mentioned in dollars in the bars, capital demands growth and 'get tough' immigration policy is currently serving the private prison industry and its investors very well. Business is booming again. By the numbers:

Corrections Corp. of America [CCA], which operates prisons and detention facilities [& whose documented infractions include "routine abuse of basic prisoner rights, mental and physical abuse, denial of health care and medical treatment, prison overcrowding, and a lack of working showers, and toilets" -A], said Thursday its fourth-quarter profit climbed 37 percent, as inmate populations rose and new contracts went into effect.

Quarterly earnings rose to $32.2 million, or 52 cents per share, from $23.4 million, or 39 cents per share, during the same period last year.

Results beat Wall Street's expectations. Analysts polled by Thomson Financial forecast a profit of 44 cents per share.

Revenue increased 10 percent to $349.6 million from $317.2 million in the year-ago quarter.
. . .

The company said results were driven by strong demand from both federal and state prisons.

Revenue from managing federal facilities grew 13 percent to $141 million, helped by new contracts at the T. Don Hutto Residential Center in Texas and Eloy Detention center in Arizona, which experienced increased detainee populations from the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The Northeast Ohio facility also experienced increased inmate populations from the Federal Bureau of Prisons.

At the state level, revenue increased 9 percent to $168.5 million in the quarter, as inmate populations rose in Colorado, Minnesota, Hawaii, Wyoming and Washington.

Overall, occupancy in prisons increased to nearly 97 percent in the quarter, from 93 percent in the year-ago period.

For the full fiscal year, Corrections Corp.'s profit more than doubled to $105.2 million, or $1.71 per share, from $50.1 million, or 83 cents per share in 2005.

Revenue rose 12 percent to $1.33 billion from $1.19 billion in the prior year. link

A 97% per bed occupancy rate (the hotel industry must be jealous). A 4 percent increase that translates into a doubling of profits. A numbers game with human pawns.