Westinghouse Net Climbs 13% to $605 Million in Year

Westinghouse Electric reported a 13% rise in annual earnings to $605.3 million on revenue of $10.7 billion.

In 1984, the company reported a $535.9-million profit on revenue of about $10.3 billion.

Fourth-quarter profit totaled $183.1 million, up 14% from the year-earlier’s net income of $160.6 million. The company posted revenue of $3.2 billion for the three months ended Dec. 31, 1985, up from the $2.9 billion reported for the like 1984 period.

“This was a good year for Westinghouse,” Chairman Douglas D. Danforth said. “Operating margins improved and, even with a higher tax rate, we were able to achieve substantially higher earnings per share.”

Fourth-quarter earnings included a pretax gain of $26 million from the sale of cable-television systems. The pending sale of Group W Cable to a consortium of cable operators was not included. The gain was offset by a fourth-quarter provision associated with a restructuring program.

Three of four operating segments--energy and advanced technology, industries, broadcasting and cable--reported higher sales and operating profits for both the fourth quarter and the year.

The Pittsburgh-based company’s commercial group reported a decline in sales and operating profits in both periods.

In 1986, Danforth said, Westinghouse expects to complete the sale of Group W Cable, buy-back up to 25 million shares of its own stock and continue with its restructuring.

“We enter 1986 with a strong (order) backlog,” he said. “We feel the outlook is good in most of our markets, and we should see further improvements from restructuring as the year progresses.”