Finance, Publishing Units Boost Gulf & Western Net

Gulf & Western Industries said Monday that its net earnings rose 25% in its fiscal first quarter on a 19% gain in revenue.

The company said its results in the three-month period ended Oct. 31 were “paced by strong results from financial services and publishing and a steady performance in entertainment.”

The company said it had net earnings of $70.7 million in the quarter, up from $57.2 million in the same period a year earlier.

Revenue was $809.3 million, up from $680.5 million a year earlier.

Gulf & Western owns Paramount Pictures, which produces movies and television programs, and Simon & Schuster, a book and software publishing company. It also has an unconsolidated financial services subsidiary, Associates Corp. of North America.

Earnings from continuing operations for the quarter were up 68% to $54 million from $32.2 million a year earlier.

Net earnings for the quarter included $16.7 million from discontinued operations, largely the gain on the sale of the consumer and industrial products group.

The comparable quarter last year included income of $25 million from discontinued operations, mainly from operations of that group.