Three large corporations with ties to Maine announced their second-quarter earnings Tuesday. The earnings picture was generally favorable.

. Penn National Gaming Inc., parent of the Charles Town Races & Slots, reported Tuesday that it had second-quarter profits of $19.7 million, which exceeded expectations. The company also owns Bangor Raceway.

The earnings translated to 48 cents per share on revenues of $301.5 million for the period ending June 30, beating projections by 4 cents per share, the company said. The results are up from $15.5 million, or 38 cents per share, on revenues of $291.2 million for the same period last year. Penn National, based in Wyomissing, Pa., has focused on diversification and strong returns in its first 10 years as a public company. “And we have succeeded on both fronts,” chief executive officer Peter M. Carlino said. Penn hopes to install 1,500 slot machines in Bangor.

. MeadWestvaco Corp. reported second-quarter profits of $48 million on Tuesday, rebounding from a loss a year ago because of increased productivity and a better paper market. The results beat Wall Street expectations.

The Stamford-based paper company, which owns the paper mill in Rumford, earned 24 cents per share, compared to a loss of $7 million, or 4 cents per share, for the same quarter in 2003.

“We are witnessing encouraging demand trends, with growing backlogs and improving prices in many of our businesses,” John A. Luke Jr., the company’s chairman and chief executive officer, said in a written statement. “As these trends gain momentum and MeadWestvaco continues to improve in both productivity and market share, we expect to deliver the strong returns envisioned with Mead and Westvaco merged.”

. Anthem Inc. posted a 34 percent jump in second-quarter profits Tuesday and said it will go to court to keep alive its proposed merger with WellPoint Health Systems Inc.

Anthem earned $237.9 million, or $1.66 per share, during the three months ended June 30, compared with $177.3 million, or $1.25 per share, for the second quarter of 2003. Revenues rose 12 percent to $4.53 billion from $4.06 billion.

The earnings came in at the high end of the range of expectations among industry analysts surveyed by Thomson First Call, but its stock was down $4.45, or 5 percent, to $83.71 during morning trading on the New York Stock Exchange.

Chairman and chief executive Larry Glasscock told industry analysts in a teleconference that Anthem remained focused on completing the $16.4 billion merger that would create the nation’s largest health insurance company, despite California Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi’s rejection of the deal on Friday.

“Our response will be to bring legal action in a California state court within the next several days,” Glasscock said. “We feel that we’ve met all the statutory requirements.”