[求助]prep一题之比较基础。。。有点不清楚

·the company announced that its profits declined much less in the second quarter than analysts had expected and that its business would improve in the second half of the year had expexted and that its business would improve.

我想问问此句话到底是什么和什么对比啊，than后面的“analysts had expected”是不是省略了什么。 那位仁兄帮忙看看~