TRW’s Net Income Climbs $61.6 Million in ’84

TRW Inc. posted a $61.6-million increase in earnings for 1984, led by operating profit increases in its aerospace, automotive and energy divisions, Ruben F. Mettler, TRW’s chairman and chief executive, said Wednesday.

“From start to finish, 1984 was an excellent year for TRW,” Mettler said. “We expect the same to be true in 1985. That assumes a continuing healthy worldwide economy, though not as strong as 1984.”

TRW’s 1984 earnings jumped by about 30% to $266.8 million, compared to $205.2 million in 1983. Revenue, however, rose only 10%, to $6.06 billion, compared to $5.49 billion in 1983.

Operating profits rose 24% in the company’s electronics and space systems segment. Operating profits climbed 38% in the car and truck segment and 22% in the industrial and energy segment.

In the fourth quarter, the Cleveland-based firm earned $59.6 million on revenue of $1.58 billion, compared to $52.6 million on revenue of $1.38 billion a year ago.

Phelps Dodge Posts Losses in Quarter, Year

Phelps Dodge Corp. said de pressed copper prices and a sizable one-time restructuring charge left it with a $217.6-million loss in the fourth quarter and a $267.8-million loss for all of 1984.

The company’s fourth-quarter revenue rose to $217.6 million from the year-earlier period, when it lost $31.5 million on revenue of $214.2 million.

Its revenue for the year slipped to $910.1 million from 1983, when it had a net loss of $63.5 million on revenue of $952.1 million.

The latest results included a previously announced non-recurring charge of $195 million for corporate restructuring.

For the year, the loss from continuing operations was $94.4 million, compared to a loss from continuing operations of $53.8 million in 1983.

The company had a loss from continuing operations of $25 million in the quarter, compared to a $31.6-million loss from continuing operations a year ago.

“The causes of these losses continues to be severely depressed copper prices, which averaged 61.3 cents per pound for 1984 on the New York Commodity Exchange, (or) 10.6 cents per pound below the 1983 average,” the company said in a news release.

‘84 Earnings Hit Record at Sears; Down in Quarter

Sears, Roebuck & Co., the nation’s largest retailer, said its full-year earnings rose to the highest level ever. However, the Chicago-based company’s fourth-quarter net income fell 3.4% from a year earlier.

Sears Chairman and Chief Executive Edward R. Telling blamed the fourth-quarter decline on “one of the most competitive Christmas shopping seasons in history and unseasonably warm temperatures.”

For the full year, Sears’ profit rose to a company record $1.45 billion from $1.34 billion in 1983.

Revenue also reached a company record $38.83 billion, up 8.2% from $35.88 billion in 1983.

For the year, the merchandise group reported income of $905 million on revenue of $26.5 billion. A year earlier, the group earned $781 million on sales of $25.0 billion. The company’s Allstate Insurance and Coldwell Banker units posted strong increases in net income for the year.

Sears’ Dean Witter subsidiary reported a $32.7-million loss, compared to year-earlier income of $100 million.

Sears World Trade division lost $24.8 million for the year, more than twice what it lost in 1983.

In the quarter, the company posted net income of $563.1 million, compared to $582.7 million during the final quarter of 1983. Revenue rose 5.1% to $11.37 billion from $10.82 billion a year earlier.

Restructuring Sends Net Down for Year at Pepsico

Pepsico Inc. reported that its earnings for the year declined from 1983 because of a restructuring program that resulted in the company taking a $136.3-million charge.

The company said, however, that the pending sale of its North American Van Lines subsidiary to Norfolk Southern Corp. this year would offset that charge.

After the charge, the Purchase, N.Y.-based firm’s earnings for the year totaled $212.5 million, compared to 1983 net income of $284.1 million. Revenue for the year was $7.7 billion, up from $7.2 billion in 1983, the company said.

Pepsico reported that its fourth-quarter net income rose 16% from the same period a year earlier.

Net income for the three months ended last Dec. 31 came to $89.6 million, compared to $77.1 million last year.

Sales for the quarter were $2.3 billion, about the same as they were the year before, the company said in a statement.

Pepsico said its 1984 profit from beverages was almost twice the profit in 1983, while international operations turned a profit after 1983’s loss. In Pepsico’s food-service division, Taco Bell’s performance was “extraordinary,” the company said.

For detailed data and results of other companies, please see tables, Page 14.