Boeing Profits Climb in 1st Quarter

Boeing Chairman T. A. Wilson on Monday reported sales of $2.93 billion and earnings from current operations of $110 million for the first quarter of 1985.

Comparable data for the first quarter of 1984 were sales of $2.08 billion and earnings of $78 million. Net earnings for the first quarter of 1984, including a restatement for an adjustment to federal income taxes, were $475 million.

Earnings before federal income taxes were $165 million for the first quarter of 1985, compared to $107 million for the same period a year before.

The increased pretax earnings for the first quarter were attributable primarily to higher commercial jet-transport earnings and increased interest income. Wilson said he expects the economic recovery, which resulted in significantly improved airline traffic growth, to continue in 1985 but at a lower growth rate. The traffic growth has essentially absorbed the excess capacity that plagued the airlines in recent years.

Consequently, the outlook for new orders is generally favorable.

Boeing is well-positioned to compete for the $135-billion commercial jet-transport market that is projected over the next 10 years, he said.

During the first quarter, 11 airlines announced orders for 23 Boeing jet transports valued at about $1 billion. In the comparable period last year, orders for 28 airplanes were placed with a value of $700 million. The relatively higher per-unit order value for 1985 is due to the greater number of wide-body airplanes being ordered, Wilson said.

Tandem Computers’ Net Surges During Quarter

Tandem Computers, the Cupertino-based manufacturer of NonStop computer systems, reported that revenue in its second quarter advanced 32% to $146.48 million. Net income in the period was $6.84 million, compared to $1.97 million earned in the comparable quarter last year.

For the six months ended March 31, revenue increased 29% to $306.14 million from $237.60 million in the same period of fiscal 1984, while net income reached $20.86 million, compared to $12.02 million a year ago.

Tandem President James G. Treybig cited strong market acceptance of the new, high-performance V-8 disk drive, which was introduced early in the second quarter.

Sperry Credits Commercial Computer Sales for Gains

Sperry said a 22% profit gain in its fourth quarter as its revenue rose 21.4% reflected a strong showing in its commercial computer business.

The company said its net income rose to $105.9 million in its fourth fiscal quarter ended March 31 from $86.8 million a year earlier. Revenue rose to $1.80 billion from $1.48 billion.

For the fiscal year, Sperry said its net income rose 32.6% to $286.7 million. Revenue rose 15.7% to $5.69 billion.

Gerald Probst, Sperry’s chairman and chief executive, said the company’s commercial-computer business had “a very strong fourth quarter as shipments reached record levels.”

Revenue from commercial computers rose 35% and its operating profit in this area was up 76%. For the year, commercial-computer revenue rose 22% and operating profit was up 43%, he said.

Probst said Sperry’s other electronics businesses showed revenue gains of 22% for the quarter and 15% for the year.

In the company’s farm-equipment segment, operating profit at Sperry New Holland was off 84% for the quarter on a 16% decline in revenue and tumbled 53% for the year as revenue fell 2%. The company blamed price-cutting pressures in a depressed market.

Xerox Cites Strong Dollar, Insurance Unit for Drop

Xerox posted a 10% drop in its first-quarter profit, blaming the strength of the dollar and lower results from its insurance subsidiary for the decline.

In the three months ended March 31, the company said its net income was $114 million, compared to $126 million a year earlier. Revenue increased slightly to $2.02 billion from $2.01 billion.

The first-quarter 1984 results included a $4-million loss from the company’s discontinued Shugart operations.

Xerox said first-quarter income from the continuing reprographics and information systems business declined 7% to $91 million from $98 million a year ago.

For detailed data and results of other companies, please see tables, Page 19.