For the three months ended Dec. 31, New York-based Cendant said net income rose to $357 million, or 33 cents a share, from $288 million, or 27 cents a share, last year.

Excluding a loss from operations, last year's earnings would have been 28 cents a share.

Revenue for the period advanced to $4.9 billion from $4.34 billion in the year-ago quarter.

Earnings per share matched the average estimate of analysts polled by Thomson First Call, while revenue exceeded the $4.6 billion consensus view.

Cendant, which includes realtor Century 21, Days Inn hotels and Avis rental cars among its operations, saw almost all of its divisions contribute to the bottom- and top-line growth.

By business, real estate franchise brands and brokerage operations posted a 19 percent gain in earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, or core earnings, to $228 million on a 16 percent advance in revenue to $1.5 billion.

In the mortgage services business, core earnings plunged 59 percent to $26 million on a 20 percent drop in revenue to $246 million. Cendant said the decline was due to the industry-wide drop off in mortgage refinancing volumes, and was expected.

Hospitality services produced a 4 percent rise in core earnings to $156 million on a 16 percent revenue increase. Cendant said virtually all facets of that business contributed to the gains.

In the travel distribution services business, core earnings fell 6 percent to $101 million as revenue improved 15 percent to $451 million. A slight reduction in global volume and higher reserves for bad debt expense amounting to about $10 million eroded earnings, the company said.

Vehicles services, partly boosted by increases in rental volume at Avis and Budget, saw core earnings soar 74 percent to $127 million on a 15 percent revenue increase to $1.59 billion.

Marketing services, for its part, recorded a 9 percent rise in core earnings to $84 million as revenue advanced 11 percent to $401 million.

For the first quarter of fiscal 2005, Cendant said earnings from continuing operations are forecast at 21 to 23 cents a share, excluding transaction related charges.

On the same basis, the consensus view is for earnings of 23 cents a share.

Cendant's stock closed up 2.5 percent to $22.97 Monday.

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