Computer Automation Posts 3rd-Quarter Profit

Computer Automation, benefiting from termination of the lease on one of its buildings, posted a net profit of $1.67 million for its fiscal 1986 third quarter, compared with a net loss of $945,000 a year earlier.

But the troubled Irvine-based maker of electronics test equipment, which has lost more than $20 million in the past three years, posted an operating loss of $672,000 for the third quarter--nearly double the $354,000 loss from operations reported the previous year.

At the same time, the company reported sales of $4.5 million, down 55% from $10 million a year earlier. The year-ago figures are restated to account for the December sale of the company’s commercial systems division.

For the first nine months, the company reported a net loss of $4 million, compared with a loss of $3.9 million for the initial nine months of its fiscal 1985. Computer Automation’s loss from continuing operations during the first nine months was $6.4 million, nearly triple the loss of $2.2 million reported a year earlier.

Revenue of $14.5 million for the nine months was down 53% from $30.9 million taken in during the first three quarters of fiscal 1985, when the company still owned its commercial division.