San/Bar of Irvine Reports Quarter Profits of $379,625

San/Bar Corp. of Irvine said Monday that despite sagging sales, its fiscal 1986 first-quarter profits hit $379,625, compared with a year-earlier operating loss of $606,000.

For the period ended Sept. 30., the telephone equipment maker posted revenues of $4.3 million, a 6.1% drop from the $4.6 million recorded in the year-ago quarter. The quarterly profit this year compares to an overall gain of $7.9 million a year ago, despite the company’s operating loss. The first-quarter profit last year came from an extraordinary gain from a lawsuit settlement.

San/Bar officials attributed the first quarter sales decline this year to several weeks of lost production caused by start-up problems in its telephone service center operations, consolidation of its divisions in Orange County and delays in receiving some orders and contracts.

However, the company also announced that it has recently received government contracts totaling approximately $4 million for a variety of its products. Furthermore, San/Bar said it had been awarded a two-year, $3 million contract from NYEX, the New York-area Bell telephone operating company.

San/Bar also said that Robert D. Johnson, the company’s president and chief operating officer, will retire at the end of the year but remain as a consultant for five years. Barry K. Hallamore, chairman, chief executive officer and founder of San/Bar, will assume Johnson’s duties.