Towerstream, Rhode Island’s newest publicly traded company, said yesterday that its revenues in the second quarter increased by 2.9 percent, to $1.6 million.

The company’s net loss widened to $2.4 million, or 9 cents a share, compared with a net loss of $130,934, or 1 cent per share, for the second quarter 2006.

Middletown-based Towerstream provides high-capacity wireless Internet connections to business customers. The seven-year-old company, which began trading on the Nasdaq Capital Market on June 1, provides service in several markets, including Providence, Newport, Greater Boston, New York City, Los Angeles, Miami, Chicago, Seattle and San Francisco.

Towerstream said its selling, general and administrative expenses jumped by $2 million to $2.8 million in the quarter that ended June 30, mainly because of the addition of sales, support and administrative personnel.

The company is aggressively hiring sales representatives, at a rate of 10 to 15 per month, said Jeff Thompson, the company’s president and chief executive officer, in a conference call with analysts. During the second quarter, the sales staff increased to 44 employees, from 28, he said.

As of now, the total number of employees is 85, with most of them in Rhode Island, Thompson said. About 54 are sales representatives.

The company could have as many as 250 sales reps in Rhode Island next year and another 250 at a planned call center on the West Coast.

Thompson said that Towerstream just finished a $450,000, 65-seat call center at its Middletown headquarters for its sales staff, and has just begun construction of another 180-seat call center to be completed this fall.

“This is a growth story with high margins and recurring monthly revenue,” Thompson told the analysts.

That growth is being financed by $14.9 million the company raised in January, and another $40 million it raised in June in a secondary offering of 10 million shares that sold at $4 each. The company’s shares closed yesterday at $2.90, down 20 cents.

Thompson said the money it has raised is enough for the company to expand in the top 30 markets in the United States.

He said that revenue-per-customer is increasing as it signs on new customers, mainly because of a bigger demand for higher-capacity Internet connections. That demand, he said, is being driven by more interest in video applications.

(Staff writer Timothy C. Barmann)

Wal-Mart

Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the world’s largest retailer, said second-quarter profit rose less than analysts anticipated and lowered its earnings forecast, causing the stock to fall the most in more than five years.

Full-year profit will be as much as $3.13 a share, 10 cents lower than its earlier forecast, after sales of apparel and home goods faltered, the company said yesterday.

Sales at older stores rose 1.9 percent in the second quarter and are headed for their smallest annual gain since at least 1980.

Net income increased 49 percent to $3.1 billion, or 76 cents a share. Excluding one-time items, profit was 4 cents less than analysts’ estimates. A year earlier, Wal-Mart earned $2.08 billion, or 50 cents, after costs to exit Germany.

Wal-Mart shares tumbled $2.35, or 5.1 percent, to $43.82.

(Bloomberg News)

Home Depot

Home Depot Inc., the world’s largest home-improvement retailer, said profit fell 15 percent and revenue dropped for the first time in four years after a U.S. housing slump reduced demand for appliances and remodeling.

Home Depot repeated its forecast for annual profit to fall as much as 15 percent. Second-quarter net income dropped to $1.59 billion, or 81 cents a share, from $1.86 billion, or 90 cents, a year earlier. Revenue retreated 1.8 percent to $22.2 billion, Atlanta-based Home Depot said yesterday.

Excluding results from HD Supply, earnings were $1.52 billion, or 77 cents a share. Shares fell $1.72, or 4.9 percent, to $33.52.

(Bloomberg News)

TJX Cos.

TJX Cos. yesterday said its second-quarter profit was cut by more than half as the discount store operator recorded a $118-million charge because of costs from a massive breach of customer data, mostly to build up a reserve to cover estimated future expenses.

The owner of about 2,500 stores, including T.J. Maxx and Marshalls, also expects to record future breach-related charges of an additional $21 million — costs that analysts said are easily manageable for a firm posting strong sales, despite the data theft and tough times for retailers.

Framingham, Mass.-based TJX reported net income of $59 million for the May-July period, or 13 cents per share, down from $138.2 million, or 29 cents per share, in the same period a year ago.

(Associated Press)