Ralph Lauren’s profit jumps 27%

Ralph Lauren posted a 27 percent increase in its fiscal third-quarter profit as the clothing company enjoyed continued momentum in spending among affluent US shoppers and improving trends in Europe during the winter holidays.

The news lifted Lauren stock 6 percent yesterday.

The results are an improvement from the first half of the year, when cotton costs soared and the company was bearing costs to eliminate some of its businesses to focus on the most profitable ones. But the company managed to navigate through the rough patches and delivered better-than-expected results.

Lauren’s performance also shows that even in challenging times, the affluent will spend on trusted brands.

The New York-based company said it earned $215.7 million, or $2.31 per share, in the three months ended Dec. 29. That compares with $169 million, or $1.78 per share, a year earlier.

Revenue rose 2.2 percent, to $1.79 billion.

Analysts had expected earnings of only $2.20 per share on revenue of $1.85 billion.

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Greenberg Traurig shuffles leadership

Law firm Greenberg Traurig on Tuesday announced a new management lineup that includes naming Hilarie Bass as the first female president in the firm’s history.

Bass, one of the firm’s Miami shareholders, most recently had been global operating shareholder. She will share the presidency with Brian L. Duffy, a Denver shareholder who has been global litigation chair, a position previously held by Bass.

As part of the shuffle, Miami shareholders Cesar L. Alvarez and Matt Gorson move to co-chairs and Larry Hoffman becomes founding chair. Alvarez previously served as executive chair, Gorson as president and Hoffman as chair.

These were just some of the new leadership changes announced by Greenberg’s Chief Executive Richard A. Rosenbaum. The firm began a leadership transition plan in 2010 when Rosenbaum took over the helm of the firm that today includes about 1,750 attorneys in 35 offices in the United States, Latin America, Europe, the Middle East and Asia.

“We are pleased to have so many talented leaders and performers, not just those with titles,” Rosenbaum said in a statement. “We have never been about titles or politics, and titles do not create leaders. We and others already in place in our regions, offices and practices form a seamless team focused on respecting and serving our clients and lawyers.”

Rosenbaum, who will remain in his post, also announced four new vice presidents:

• Ernest Greer, Managing Shareholder of the firm’s Atlanta office.

• Brad Kaufman, Co-Chair of the National Securities Litigation Practice, leader of the firm’s Associate Development Program and a Palm Beach County shareholder.

• Patricia Menendez-Cambo, Chair of the Global Practice, Co-Chair of the Infrastructure and Project Finance Practice and a Miami shareholder.

• Keith Shapiro, Chair of the Chicago office and Co-Chair of the Business Reorganization Practice.

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Miami Heat has scholarships for graduation high school seniors

The Miami Heat is offering South Florida high school seniors college scholarships for the 2013-2014 school year.

Four scholarships of $2,500 each will go to seniors who excel in academics and community service.

One of the four scholarships is reserved for a student who plays sports.

Applicants must have at least a 3.2 grade point average by their final semester in high school, attend school in Miami-Dade, Broward or Palm Beach counties, be accepted to an accredited four-year college or university and demonstrate financial need.

Applications are available at nba.com/heat/community/community_education_scholarships.html and must be submitted by April 6.

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Kris Humphries Denies Kim Kardashian a Speedy Divorce Because She's Pregnant

In response to Kim Kardashian's request to expedite her ongoing divorce from Kris Humphries, the Brooklyn Nets player has formally refused to speed up the process via official court documents.

In paperwork obtained by ET filed February 4, Kris's lawyer Marshall W. Waller alleges that Kim's rush to bring the case to court has more to do with her impending pregnancy than legitimate pressing matters.

Pics: Five Years of Kim Kardashian Fashion

"What is really going on here is that an 'urgency' in the form of an apparently unplanned pregnancy, something [Kris] had nothing to do with, is perceived by [Kim] as an opportunity to gain a litigation advantage by trying to force this court to prematurely set this matter for trial," writes Waller.

He later asks, "Indeed, why would [Kim] plan to get pregnant in the midst of divorce proceedings?"

Related: Kim Kardashian on Divorce, Surrogate Breastfeeding

Kim, during a January appearance on the Today show stayed mostly mum about her ongoing divorce proceedings from her infamous 72-day marriage to the NBA star. When asked where the process stands ahead of her next court appearance on the matter on February 15, Kim said, "I can't really speak for anyone else. It just is a process."

Kim and Kris formally split in October 2011 citing "irreconcilable differences."

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Dan tops

Investors in Dan Loeb’s Third Point hedge fund who went to its annual meeting last night hoping to learn whether he has sold, hedged or added to his trades in Herbalife were disappointed.

“He said nothing with regard to the [controversy surrounding] Herbalife,” said one attendee of the presentation at the Museum of Modern Art.

Loeb did reveal that he first bought Herbalife shares in the last days of 2012, when they were trading around $30.

That was shortly after the stock fell almost 40 percent following hedgie Bill Ackman’s crusade against the nutritional products company.

Ackman called Herbalife a pyramid scheme that should be shut down by regulators and took a $1 billion short position in the company.

Herbalife’s rise from the Ack-attack low of $26.06 — shares were up 10.4 percent in January — helped Loeb post a better overall return than his rival during the month.

Loeb’s $11.2 billion Third Point finished January up 4.8 percent, according to a letter to investors — a copy of which was obtained by The Post.

Despite the beating he took on Herbalife, Ackman and his Pershing Square fund still pulled down a 3.7 percent gain.

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FMLA still helping families cope with illness

When I gave birth to my daughter, I returned home with a squirmy little bundle and immediately felt overwhelmed. Though I was exhausted from changing diapers and waking for feedings, I was thankful that my job was secure.

In our struggle to balance our family lives and our work lives, one law has made a giant difference for me and 35 million other American workers — the Family Medical Leave Act.

This week, the FMLA celebrates its 20th year in existence. It’s been a godsend for those of us who want time to bond with our newborn, care for an aging parent or deal with a health emergency without the fear of losing our jobs.

But two decades after President Bill Clinton signed the FMLA into law, advocates say they still have unfinished business.

“It was meant to be a first step toward a family-friendly American workplace. But it is 20 years and we haven’t gotten to the second step,” says Judith Lichtman, senior advisor to the National Partnership for Women & Families and an original advocate for passage of FMLA.

In many ways, the FMLA has been even more helpful to working families than expected. The law initially was conceived to allow working mothers like me to take time off for childbirth and post-maternity.

But over 20 years, it has been used 100 million times by all types of workers — about 40 percent of them men.

The FMLA has provided time off for women who needed medical care during difficult pregnancies, fathers who took time to care for children fighting cancer, adult sons and daughters caring for frail parents and workers taking time to recover from their own serious illnesses.

The federal law says we can take up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave if we work at a company with more than 50 employees, with a caveat that we must be employed there for a year. The big benefit is that our jobs are protected during that leave.

During the recession, the job security and the continuation of health insurance that FMLA guarantees proved particularly important.

Debbie Winkles, senior VP/director of human resources at Great Florida Bank in Miami Lakes, used FMLA three years ago when she needed to care for her husband who was battling cancer. Today, Winkles has male and female bank employees who are using FMLA to care for their newborns or to cope with illness.

Her company has created an easy spreadsheet system to track its employees’ FMLA leave. “With today’s health issues, so many people diagnosed with cancer are having chemotherapy, and employees need medical leave for themselves or a family member.”

In Wisconsin, Jill Delie is using FMLA to manage a chronic disease by taking a few days off each month for doctors appointments. In Maine, Vivian Mikhail used FMLA to care for her daughter, Nadia, when the little girl was diagnosed with an autoimmune condition that left her completely deaf.

Just this week, a longtime friend of mine told me how fortunate she feels to be able to take FMLA to spend time with her mother who has incurable lung cancer. “I don’t want to lose my job, but I can’t imagine not being there for her when she needs me,” my friend sighed.

Yet for all the benefit, FMLA doesn’t guarantee wages while workers are on leave, a component advocates had planned as a second step. According to a Department of Labor study, 78 percent of workers who needed FMLA leave did not use it because they could not afford to take unpaid leave. Proposed federal legislation would expand eligibility and introduce a paid family-leave insurance program. Funded through a small payroll tax, the program would provide two-thirds of an employee’s wages for up to 12 weeks of leave.

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With Scholl donation, museum’s collection grows by hundreds

It was love at first sight for Debra and Dennis Scholl and the giant pair of birdhouses-as-art.

The longtime Miami art collectors saw the 400-square-foot piece by Simon Starling in a New York gallery, complete with two live finches, and reacted this way: “We know we can’t live with this,” Dennis Scholl recalled. “But we can’t live without it.”

Now, nearly 10 years later, the couple has decided to part with that and hundreds of other works collected over the last 30-plus years. The Miami Art Museum will announce Tuesday the donation of about 300 pieces from the Scholls’ collection worth millions of dollars.

“This is a huge, important and really I think catalytic gift, and I expect that we’ll have more announcements to make over the course of the next few months along these lines, in part because of Dennis and Debra’s generosity,” said museum director Thom Collins. “They are the leading edge of the wedge, as it were.”

Collins said an annual artist and curator lecture series will be named in honor of the gift, the total value of which is still being appraised. Scholl and Collins both estimated it would be worth millions, though Scholl added “probably not tens of millions.”

Dennis Scholl, vice president/arts at the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, said he and his wife reached the decision as they pondered the December grand opening of the Pérez Art Museum Miami, as the new bayside venue will be called. Longtime residents of Miami-Dade who met on their first day of law school at the University of Miami, the couple said the community has treated them well — and they were honored to give back.

“It’s a wonderful time for the museum and we felt like it was a time when we could make a difference,” said Scholl, 57, who has worked as a lawyer and entrepreneur in ventures ranging from wine to real estate.

The $220 million project will be finished nearly three years after breaking ground at the 29-acre Museum Park overlooking Biscayne Bay and two years after developer Jorge M. Pérez gave $35 million in a naming gift of cash and art from his collection.

Dennis Scholl said he and Debra were inspired by the gift from Pérez as well as other large donations, including $35 million from Phillip and Patricia Frost for the under-construction science museum and $30 million from Adrienne Arsht to the county’s performing arts center. The Scholls hope their gift will motivate other collectors.

“We can’t speak for other collectors in the community; we think that people with collections ought to be able to decide what to do with them,” said Scholl, the Knight Foundation’s representative on the board of trustees. “We feel that this is a wonderful place to support with our collection.”

The Scholls collect works from the 1960s “to last Tuesday,” Dennis said, with an emphasis on cutting-edge pieces — especially photography — from emerging artists. They have founded initiatives devoted to building contemporary art collections at London’s Tate Modern and the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York as well as MAM, and work from the couple’s collection have been featured in eight museum exhibititions, including at the Nevada Museum of Art and Baltimore’s Contemporary Museum.

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The Bachelor Recap: Sean Lowe Questions Tierra's Motives

Tonight Sean Lowe's lucky ladies leave the comforts of the mansion and take their quest for The Bachelor's heart global. First stop, Montana!

Eleven girls pack their bags and head to the Rockies this week in anticipation of snagging one of three dates: a one-on-one, a two-on-one or the group date.

Pics: Meet 'Bachelor' Sean Lowe's Lucky Ladies!

Sean decides he hasn't spent much quality time with the girl who dared to make her first impression in a wedding dress, so he awards Lindsay with the only one-on-one by whisking her off to Glacier National Park via helicopter.

Later, over a glass of wine by the fire, Lindsay opens up to Sean about her childhood as an army brat and her desire for a family. The bachelor, feeling he has a better understanding and affection for his date, bestows Lindsay with a rose.

The two cap off their romantic night with a slow dance in town square to the live tunes of Country singer Sarah Darling.

When the group date rolls around, Sean pits his eight (Selma, AshLee, Desiree, Catherine, Sarah, Leslie, Robyn, and Daniela) against each other in an all-out tag team race involving canoeing and goat milk guzzling for the shot at extra time with the bachelor. The red team (Selma, Sarah, Robyn and Desiree) triumphs and heads off to enjoy their well-earned cocktail time with Sean, but it isn't long before he has second thoughts about sending the blue team (AshLee, Catherine, Lesley, and Daniela) back to the hotel. On a whim, Sean invites the four to join the party in progress, to the horror of Selma, Sarah, Robyn and Desiree.

Pics: 'The Bachelor' Scorecard (Did the Relationships Sizzle or Fizzle?)

Seeing the girls in a flurry of excitement to meet Sean, Tierra (who is stuck in her room with plans of a two-on-one along with Jackie the next day) devises a scheme to escape the hotel and snatch a moment with the bachelor without anyone the wiser. Amazingly, her plan goes off without a hitch, and Tierra is able to pull Sean aside and steal a snuggle before he goes off to meet his eight at the bar.

The ladies, itching to stretch out every minute they have, grow anxious about their chances this week. Daniela breaks from the pressure in her alone time with Sean and tears up, ultimately endearing herself to her date and he gifts her his rose for the night.

As the time finally comes for Tierra and Jackie to embark on their two-on-one with Sean, Tierra makes no butts about her intent to squash her competition on their three-way date by purposefully dominating his attention on the horseback riding outing.

Frustrated, Jackie opens up to Sean about her Tierra concerns in a moment alone, but the conversation does not sit well with him. Despite blooming doubt about Tierra, he sends Jackie home.

Related-- 'Bachelor' Recap: Tierra Triumphs & Amanda Falls

With the loss of Jackie, Robyn takes matters into her own hands and confronts Tierra. The argument escalates just as Sean happens to walk in. Confused, he takes Tierra aside and she relays that the other women have been ganging up on her, which Sean accepts with doubt. Apparently assuming Robyn was the source of the drama, he sends her off without a rose.

Keep it tuned to ABC tomorrow as the two-day Bachelor event continues. Sean and his nine hit the Canadian Rockies where Tierra falls victim to the dangers of the wild—only to be saved by her knight in shining armor.

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It’s hammer time

NBCUniversal boss Steve Burke anointed Bonnie Hammer his cable queen.

Hammer yesterday solidified her grip on NBCU’s cable-TV empire in a management shake-up that also saw her closest rival, Lauren Zalaznick, stripped of her cable powers.

Burke handed Hammer control over women-focused channels Bravo, Oxygen and Style — properties that were overseen by Zalaznick — in addition USA, Sci-Fi, E! and a handful of other channels.

Zalaznick was put in charge of NBCU’s digital initiatives and will continue to oversee online properties including Fandango and Daily Candy.

Charles Trainor/Bravo

A scene from Bravo’s “The Real Housewives of Miami”

As part of the restructuring, NBCU put Joe Uva, the former CEO of Univision, in charge of its Spanish-language channel Telemundo, which was also overseen by Zalaznick.

While Zalaznick’s new role was widely seen as a demotion, NBCU portrayed her as having executive parity with Hammer. Zalaznick, for instance, will get an office next door to Burke. All three executives will report to Burke.

“Lauren is being promoted to a new role in which she will be responsible for harnessing the power of the NBCUniversal content portfolio to drive revenue across the company, including TV Everywhere and alternative windowing strategies,” Burke said yesterday in an memo.

The Post first reported the cable reshuffling yesterday on its website.

After Comcast completed its takeover two years ago, Burke carved up the media giant’s cable empire, giving each woman her own channel portfolio.

But the separate fiefdoms created additional overhead and competition for ad dollars, sources told The Post.

Hammer was said to have been fed up with the current structure and made a play for the whole portfolio as part of her recent contract negotiations, sources said.

Burke had considered removing Telemundo from Zalaznick’s purview a few months ago, according to sources,

Uva, the new chairman of Hispanic Enterprises, will be tasked with boosting affiliate and ad rates for Telemundo, which has historically lagged Univision.

Ironically, Univision is now run by ex-NBCU President Randy Falco.

Exiting NBCU with no immediate position is Salil Mehta, sources said.

Mehta, a lieutenant of former NBCU chief Jeff Zucker, had reported to Zalaznick and was chief operating officer and chief financial officer at NBC Universal Entertainment and Digital.

Mehta follows a handful of top executives out the door, most recently NBC News boss Steve Capus, who announced his exit last week.

Hammer has her work cut out for her, as the cable assets — which account for 50 percent of the media giant’s cash flow — did not have a great 2012.

The cable channels saw an 8 percent dip in the 25-to-54 year old demographic during primetime.

NBCSports cable network fell 22 percent during an Olympic year, while cash cow USA was down 13 percent.

Comcast, which owns 51 percent of NBCU, reports fourth-quarter and full-year earnings Feb. 13.

catkinson@nypost.com

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Register for our free Business Plan Bootcamp

Whether you are planning to enter the Miami Herald Business Plan Challenge or want to refine a short business plan you already have, our free Business Plan Bootcamp later this month can help.

Melissa Krinzman, a veteran Business Plan Challenge judge and managing director of Venture Architects, will be leading a panel of experts who will give you advice on crafting a short business plan aimed at grabbing the attention of investors — or judges. If you are entering the Challenge, we encourage you to bring your entry with you because the panel will critique critical sections of the short plan.

Panelists include:

•  Richard Ginsburg, co-founder of G3 Capital Partners, a mid-market and early stage investment company.

•  Steven McKean, founder and CEO of Acceller, a Miami-based tech company, and a Challenge judge.

•  Mike Tomas, CEO of Miami-based Bioheart, president of ASTRI Group and a Challenge judge.

Time, date, place: 6:30 p.m. Feb. 26, Miami Dade College, Wolfson Campus Auditorium (Room 1261, Building 1, 2nd floor).

To register: It’s free, but please register here.

You do not have to enter the Challenge to attend our free boot camp, but we hope you will. The Challenge deadline is March 11.

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