Imation Corp. beat expectations Wednesday by reporting an adjusted second-quarter profit of 11 cents per share, and the market reacted by boosting the stock 11.4 percent Wednesday.

The single analyst who follows Imation had been expecting an adjusted loss of 31 cents.

The Oakdale-based data storage and security company has had a net loss in each of the last four quarters and for the past three fiscal years.

Imation had a second-quarter net loss of $5.1 million, or 13 cents a share, an improvement over the year-ago net loss of $12 million, or 32 cents a share. Revenue in the second quarter was $211.7 million, down 15 percent.

The second-quarter net loss was in line with the company's expectations, said CEO Mark Lucas. "Our transformation continues and we are seeing signs of progress," Lucas said in a statement. "We are focused on high-growth market segments."

There were three factors behind the adjusted profit for the quarter, said Scott Robinson, controller and vice president of investor relations.

One of them was an Italian court decision that freed Imation from paying into a fund for recording artists based on its sales of consumer-oriented blank CD disks in Italy, Robinson said. That added $13.6 million to operating earnings.

A boost for Imation's revenue came from an acquisition, the $120 million purchase of California-based data storage firm Nexsan, at the end of December, Robinson said.

In addition, Imation had strong sales in its commercial business, which includes recordable DVD disks and flash drives, Robinson said.

Imation shares closed at $4.68 per share, up 48 cents.

Steve Alexander • 612-673-4553