Quarterly US corporate profits increased for the third consecutive quarter, resulting in year-over-year growth of 20.5%, according to the "preliminary" estimates released by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis. The growth rate reflected a 27.8% rise in profits of financial corporations and a 15.6% increase in profits of nonfinancial corporations. Corporate profits (with inventory valuation and capital consumption adjustments) stood at a seasonally adjsuted annual rate of $1,618.6 billion in the second quarter, an increases of $49.5 billion from Q1'06. 

Dividends increased $15.4 billion, compared with an increase of $14.7 billion in the first quarter; current- production undistributed profits increased $7.6 billion, compared with an increase of $128.5 billion.

Domestic profits of financial corporations increased $34.7 billion in the second quarter, compared with an increase of $51.4 billion in the first. Domestic profits of nonfinancial corporations increased $5.6 billion in the second quarter, compared with an increase of $94.5 billion in the first.

The rest-of-the-world component of profits increased $9.1 billion in the second quarter, compared with an increase of $29.8 billion in the first.