Johnstown American

Johnstown American Cos., the Atlanta, Ga.-based parent of leading brokerage and condominium management firms with Orange County headquarters, posted a 40% increase in first-quarter profits.

Johnstown American, which owns Newport Beach-based Business Properties Brokerage Co. and Professional Community Management Inc. in El Toro, earned $1.7 million in its first 1985 fiscal quarter, ended Nov. 30, up from $1.2 million in the same quarter a year earlier.

The company, which does not supply separate revenue and earnings information for its subsidiaries, said combined revenues rose 85% in the quarter, to $14.5 million from $7.8 million in the same quarter of fiscal 1984.

Johnstown bought Business Properties Brokerage Co. for $4.5 million last December, and paid $1 million for PCM in July, 1983. In addition, Johnstown owns the Los Angeles-based Daum Corp., a commercial and industrial real estate brokerage with a regional office in Newport Beach.

John Lie-Nielsen, chairman of Johnstown, which provides property management, brokerage, leasing, financial, real estate investment and consulting services, attributed the growth in company earnings “largely to increases in our brokerage commissions and special fees derived from assisting in the purchase and financing of properties syndicated by our clients.”

Johnstown, which had traded its stock “over the counter,” started Jan. 3 trading its common shares on the American Stock Exchange.