3 AT&T; Offspring Post Big Profits for 1st Year
Three of AT&T;’s offspring, Bell Atlantic Corp., Nynex Corp. and American Information Technologies Inc., said Thursday that their 1984 profits highlighted successful first-year performances.
Bell Atlantic said it earned $973.1 million, Nynex posted net income of $986.4 million and earnings for American Information Technologies--Ameritech--were $990.9 million.
In the fourth quarter, Bell Atlantic said it earned $241.5 million, Nynex’s profit was $262.3 million and Ameritech earned $202.9 million.
The firms are among the seven holding companies formed to operate the 22 Bell System telephone firms that were divested from American Telephone & Telegraph Co. on Jan. 1, 1984.
As a result, year-earlier comparisons are not available.
Bell Atlantic, headquartered in Philadelphia, serves the mid-Atlantic area from New Jersey to West Virginia.
The company’s fourth-quarter profit came on revenue of $2.1 billion. Full-year revenue was $8.09 billion.
“By any measurement, 1984 was a very successful first year for Bell Atlantic in terms of both our strong financial performance and the way we have positioned the corporation for the challenges and opportunities we face,” Thomas E. Bolger, chairman and chief executive, said in a statement.
New York-based Nynex, which serves New York state and most of New England except Connecticut, said its fourth-quarter revenue hit $2.44 billion.
Annual revenue totaled $9.51 billion.
Nynex’s performance “exceeded our expectations for several reasons,” Chairman Delbert C. Staley said in a statement.
He cited a strong economy in the company’s operating region, cost controls and a heavy demand for new telephone lines.
Chicago-based Ameritech, which serves the Great Lakes region, said its fourth-quarter and full-year revenue was $2.13 billion and $8.35 billion, respectively.
Ameritech said certain one-time charges in the latest quarter reduced earnings by $47.5 million.
The charges included a refund and an increase in depreciation expenses that stemmed from a ruling by the Wisconsin Public Service Commission.
William L. Weiss, Ameritech’s chairman and chief executive, said in a statement that the company’s 1984 performance “clearly outpaced expectations,” mostly due to Ameritech’s ability to control costs.
Procter & Gamble
Procter & Gamble Co. said its profit fell 36% in the second fiscal quarter, despite a gain in revenue, due to major investments in new products.
The personal-care products company reported a profit of $137 million in the three months ended last Dec. 31, down from $214 million in the second quarter of its 1983-84 fiscal year.
Revenue rose 8% to $3.3 billion from $3.1 billion a year earlier.
For the first six months of the 1984-85 fiscal year, the company said profit fell 26% to $360 million from $487 million.
Profit per share declined to $2.15 from $2.93, although revenue grew to $6.86 billion from $6.41 billion.
Procter & Gamble said the factors that led to the drop in second-quarter earnings were its continuing major investment in new products, such as Citrus Hill orange juice, Ivory shampoo and conditioner, Always sanitary pads and Encaprin analgesic.
Major product improvements also played a role, particularly in the development of its Pampers disposable diapers, on which the company expects to spend $500 million over the next few years for improvement.
Finally, Procter & Gamble made a provision in the second quarter for anticipated losses from its decision to end its line of surgical drapes and gowns.
Procter & Gamble, based in Cincinnati, markets laundry and cleaning products, personal-care products, pharmaceuticals, food and beverage products and products for business and industry.
Glendale Federal
Glendale Federal Savings & Loan Assn. reported that its net earnings for the second quarter rose 4.3% to $14.6 million.
Nearly 29% of its profits came from an extraordinary dividend payment by the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp.
Without that one-time gain, the firm’s earnings would have dropped 25%.
For the three months ended last Dec. 31, the nation’s fifth-largest S&L; had net earnings of $14.6 million on revenue of $339.4 million, compared to $14 million on revenue of $274.6 million a year earlier.
For the first half of the firm’s fiscal year, it earned $26 million on revenue of $668.7 million, a 39.8% increase over the first half of the previous year, when it earned $18.6 million on revenue of $525.9 million.
The company said it hopes to post strong profits in the third and fourth quarters because of declining interest rates and said half of its $8.2-billion loan portfolio is now comprised of variable-rate and short-term loans.
The firm also said its recent purchase of American Title Co. and its proposed takeover of Armco Financial Corp. will help insulate it from the interest-rate-sensitive mortgage market.
For detailed data and results of other companies, please see tables, Page 4.
