Oak Posts Loss of $9.5 Million in 1st Quarter

Troubled Oak Industries on Wednesday reported a $9.5-million loss on continuing operations for the first quarter ended March 31, compared to a $12.5-million loss for the same quarter a year earlier.

Oak reported sales for the quarter of $77.1 million, down from $83.8 million.

All of Oak’s losses for the latest quarter came from continuing operations. During the same period last year, continuing operations accounted for $7 million of the loss. Those operations do not include the company’s subscription-TV and related businesses, which have been treated as discontinued operations since the end of last year.

Oak said a revenue decline in its cable-TV business resulted in the larger operating loss in the recent quarter.

Cutting Costs

For the year ended Dec. 31, Oak lost $149.3 million on sales of $333.2 million. Since then, the company has cut costs “in a hundred different ways,” according to E. L. McNeely, acting chairman, chief executive and president.

Oak also announced Wednesday that it has signed a definitive agreement with Estrela Communications Inc. for the sale of KBSC-TV, its Los Angeles television station.

The deal, worth $30 million in cash, is expected to be completed later this year and is subject to approval by the Federal Communications Commission and the Federal Trade Commission.

On Tuesday, Oak disclosed that it is trying to recover more than $1 million in loans and “improperly reimbursed” non-business expenses from former Chairman Everitt A. Carter, who resigned last November.