Editor's note: An earlier version of the story misstated the delinquency rates for Navient student loans.

Navient, Delaware's embattled student loan company, is making more money today than most anyone would have thought a year ago.

Earlier this year, the company faced a takeover attempt from activist investors who said its loan operations were bloated and its executives' failure to resolve a legal onslaught brought by regulators placed the company under a "shadow" of doubt.

Yet, on Wednesday, Navient announced it had earned $153 million during that tumultuous second quarter of 2019, nearly doubling its profits from a year earlier.

Headquartered on the Wilmington Riverfront, Navient employs about 350 people in Delaware, down from the 800 in maintained in previous years. It has 6,600 employees nationally, many of whom work at call centers in neighboring Pennsylvania.

The company said its 2019 profits were boosted by the fees from refinancing nearly a billion dollars in private student loans, and from fewer delinquent borrowers.

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The company reports that about 2.5% of its private student loan customers were delinquent during the second quarter of 2019, compared with 6.1% of those who had federal student loans.

Nationally, about 10.9% of student loan borrowers were delinquent, a term defined as not having made a payment in 90 days.

In a conference call with investors, CEO Jack Remondi called Navient's second-quarter results exceptional.

Investors appeared to agree as Navient shares spiked more than 10% Wednesday. They are up 78% since a low in December when prospects looked dismal.

Forecasts say the good times will continue despite lingering challenges.

Calls are growing louder from many prominent progressive politicians for public college to be free, a policy that could cripple Navient as it still relies on loan servicing fees from the federal government for the core of its revenues.

Separately, still hanging over the company are the lawsuits from numerous state and federal regulators who claim Navient had directed borrowers of federal student loans into too-costly payment plans.

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On Wednesday's conference call, Navient Chief Financial Officer Chris Lown said the "regulatory environment" of the $1.5 billion student loan industry needs to be addressed.

"There have been a number of unsubstantiated accusations," he said.

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In 2019, Navient has spent about a million dollars lobbying Congress, the White House, the Office of Vice President and the Department of Education, according to federal disclosure reports.

The issues lobbied on include bankruptcy reform, credit bureau retractions, and an automatic recertification of income for income-driven repayment plans.

Contact Karl Baker at kbaker@delawareonline.com or (302) 324-2329. Follow him on Twitter @kbaker6.