Northrop Posts Mixed Results in Quarter, Year

Northrop Corp. on Tuesday said its fourth-quarter earnings dropped by 48% as production of its F-5 jet fighter wound down, but its profit for all of 1985 rose by 28.5%.

The aerospace concern said it earned $29.2 million on sales of $1.53 billion for the three months ended Dec. 31, compared to a year earlier when it earned $56.2 million on revenue of $1.14 billion.

Northrop noted that deliveries of the F-5 were 50% below the final quarter of 1984. The last of those planes, which have been in production for more than two decades, is to be delivered in 1987.

The company also cited higher expenses on its F-20 Tigershark jet, for which it has yet to find a buyer.

Expenses on the F-20 program rose in the most recent period to $54.6 million, compared to $45.5 million a year earlier. That brought total F-20 developmental expenses to $957.9 million.

For all of 1985, Northrop earned $214.4 million on revenue of $5.06 billion, compared to 1984, when it earned $166.9 million on sales of $3.69 billion.

It credited the full-year gain to stronger aerospace sales and increased revenue from secret government research contracts.

Northrop is working on the super-secret Stealth bomber for the Defense Department.