A deep slump in advertising sales that has battered many media companies is showing signs of easing, Richmond-based Media General Inc. said yesterday after posting a third-quarter loss. The company, which owns the Richmond Times-Dispatch, took an $84 million noncash write-down on the value of some assets. That contributed to a loss of $62.5 million, or $2.80 per share, for the third quarter, compared with a profit of $6.1 million, or 27 cents, in the same period last year.

No. 1 cigarette-maker Altria Group Inc. shook off the effect of a nearly 62-cents-a-pack federal tax increase in April to report higher third-quarter profits yesterday. Continuing cuts in the cost of making its cigarettes, cigars and smokeless tobacco for the quarter helped the Henrico County-based company deal with its quarterly federal excise tax bill more than doubling.

DuPont Co. offset falling sales and prices by cutting costs, and the chemical maker reported larger-than-expected third-quarter profits yesterday. DuPont has reduced spending by $900 million so far this year, just short of its full-year goal of $1 billion. Reduced costs led to a surprise profit of $409 million, or 45 cents per share, for the quarter ending Sept. 30, compared with $367 million, or 40 cents, in last year’s third quarter.

Bank of America Corp. lost more than $2.2 billion in the third quarter as loan losses kept rising, providing more evidence that consumers are still struggling to pay their bills. The nation’s second-largest bank said it wrote down loans on its books by almost $10 billion during the July-September period, up almost $1 billion from the second quarter.

IBM Corp. has raised its profit guidance for the second time this year, a sign of the company’s confidence that it can uncork more profit from its business despite falling sales. The company’s third-quarter results, reported after the market closed yesterday, show that corporations are still reluctant to spend on some kinds of technology. IBM’s sales fell 7 percent, and all its major divisions suffered declines.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. reported strong third-quarter earnings as its thriving investment banking business more than offset rising loan losses that the bank warned would continue for the foreseeable future. JPMorgan, the first of the big banks to report earnings for the July-September period, reported a $3.59 billion profit but also said it roughly doubled the amount of money it set aside for failed home and credit-card loans in the quarter.

Intel Corp. said its third-quarter profit dropped 8 percent as prices for its chips fell. Sales also fell 8 percent to $9.4 billion. But both numbers were better than Wall Street projected, and Intel offered better-than-expected sales guidance for the fourth quarter. Net income was $1.9 billion, or 33 cents per share, versus $2 billion, or 35 cents, in the year-ago period. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected 28 cents per share in earnings and $9 billion in revenue.

People aren’t just shopping more at Family Dollar. They’re buying the lowest-priced stuff on its racks. Pizza Hut was left hungering for sales as consumers sought better fast-food bargains. Shoppers’ financial strain is clear in the latest batch of corporate financial reports this week. The operative word for the American consumer isn’t “value.“ It’s “cheap.“

Automotive retailer CarMax Inc. said its fiscal second-quarter profit surged on higher sales and a one-time gain related to its auto financing business. The results topped Wall Street estimates. The Goochland County-based chain earned $103 million, or 46 cents per share, for the three months ended Aug. 31, compared with $14 million, or 6 cents, a year ago.

The Kroger Co.‘s second-quarter profit fell nearly 8 percent as bargain-minded households cut spending and the grocer cut prices to retain worried shoppers. Cincinnati-based Kroger, the nation’s largest traditional grocery chain, said sales also fell in the quarter. It cut its earnings guidance for the full year. Net earnings totaled $254.4 million, or 39 cents per share, down from $276.5 million, or 42 cents, a year earlier. Analysts expected 44 cents per share.

Smithfield Foods Inc. said it lost $107.7 million, or 75 cents a share, in the fiscal first quarter that ended Aug. 2, compared with a loss of $13.2 million, or 10 cents per share, a year ago. Excluding charges, the company’s loss was 56 cents per share. Revenue declined nearly 14 percent to $2.72 billion from $3.14 billion. Shares of Smithfield fell 29 cents, or 2.2 percent, to close at $12.75 yesterday.

Village Bank and Trust Financial Corp., parent company of Village Bank, reported a second-quarter loss of $1.8 million, or a loss of 45 cents per share, compared with a net income of $179,000, or 7 cents per share, for the same period a year ago. The loss included a special assessment of $266,000 by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.

Hewlett-Packard Co.‘s profit dropped 19 percent in the latest quarter, dragged by ongoing weakness in sales of personal computers and printer ink. The Palo Alto, Calif.-based company reported after the market closed that it earned $1.64 billion, or 67 cents per share, in the fiscal third quarter. A year earlier the company made $2.03 billion, or 80 cents per share.

Tighter inventory controls helped Wal-Mart Stores Inc. earn more than Wall Street had forecast in its second quarter. The world’s largest retailer boosted the low end of its annual profit outlook as it accelerates cost-cutting measures, but it said the economy will remain challenging in coming months and force shoppers to keep seeking low prices and small packages. It doesn’t expect big improvement in the holiday season, either.

Central Virginia Bankshares Inc. had a second-quarter loss of $95,356, or a loss of 10 cents per share, compared with a profit of $909,577, or 35 cents per share, in the year-earlier period. Core earnings—net income after adjustments, a special assessment and impairment charge—was $395,060 compared with the core after-tax earnings of $872,752 in last year’s second quarter.