Nynex Corp. said its fourth-quarter profits rose...

Nynex Corp. said its fourth-quarter profits rose 6.7% from a year earlier, while another major telephone holding company, Southwestern Bell of St. Louis, posted a modest 3% gain. Nynex is the parent of telephone companies serving most of New England, while Southwestern Bell serves Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma and Texas. Nynex said its results were limited by two factors: a charge, for which Nynex did give a specific amount, to cover Nynex’s settlement of antitrust litigation with MCI Communications, and higher expenses related to Hurricane Gloria, which hit Nynex’s region in late September. Southwestern said cost-control efforts, a downward adjustment in its pension expense and an increase in customer telephone lines helped its results.