ATLANTA (Bloomberg) Midwest Air Group Inc., a regional carrier fighting a takeover by AirTran Holdings Inc., said second-quarter profit fell 45 percent on fare competition and legal expenses. The shares dropped as much as 9.3 percent.

Net income declined to $4.87 million, or 19 cents a share, from $8.8 million, or 39 cents, the Oak Creek, Wisconsin-based company said yesterday. Sales increased 10 percent to $195 million.

Rising fuel costs may hurt Midwest's results further in the second half, and "the markets they service could see a less-robust revenue environment", Standard & Poor's analyst James Corridore in New York wrote in a note to investors.

The lower profit spurred AirTran to renew its case for the $389 million hostile takeover bid. A Midwest statement on its second-quarter results mentioned AirTran only in putting Midwest's legal costs at $2.9 million, or 11 cents a share. The carrier didn't give a year-earlier figure.