National Semiconductor Suffers $91-Million Loss

National Semiconductor on Thursday reported a $91.5-million loss for its 1986 fiscal year that ended May 31, reflecting the seemingly unrelenting severity of the industrywide slump.

It was the deepest loss ever for the Santa Clara, Calif.-based National Semi, the third-largest domestic maker of integrated circuits, and the first time in the company’s history that all four fiscal quarters were profitless.

The loss, compared to net earnings of $43.2 million in 1985, included a $12.7-million charge for a change in accounting, the company said.

For the year, the company had sales of $1.48 billion, a 17% drop from revenue of $1.79 billion in 1985.

National Semi has continued to see “significant operating improvement, quarter to quarter,” a company spokeswoman said, and it expects the trend to continue. However, growth in the rate of orders and shipments moderated somewhat at the end of the fourth quarter, reflecting a weakness shown throughout the industry.

Last week, the Semiconductor Industry Assn. reported that its measure of orders and shipments declined slightly, following several months of long-awaited improvement. Analysts have been backing away from earlier estimates of a turnaround in the industry from last year’s recession.

The company’s fourth-quarter loss was $7.1 million, compared to a $2.7-million loss in the year-ago quarter. Sales for the quarter were down 7% to $397.8 million.