Ducommun Reports Net Loss of $19.2 Million for Last Year

Ducommun Inc. on Monday reported a net loss of $19.2 million for 1986, despite increased sales for the 12 months. The electronics distributor and aerospace parts maker lost $19.6 million the prior year.

Sales for 1986 rose 9.1% to $455 million from $417 million the previous year.

For the fourth quarter, Ducommun reported a net loss of $18.6 million, compared to a $18.5-million net loss a year earlier. Fourth-quarter sales dropped 1.3% to $107.3 million from $108.7 million during the same 1985 period.

Wallace W. Booth, chairman and chief executive officer, blamed most of the yearly and quarterly losses on inventory write-downs and operating losses by Kierulff, a part of Ducommun’s electronics-distribution business.

“The operating losses were due to the phase-out of the Motorola franchise, termination costs for labor force reductions and . . . severe margin pressure” in the semiconductor market, Booth said. The inventory write-downs resulted from a “review of electronics-distribution inventories as part of an . . . inventory” during the fourth quarter.

Ducommun reported that losses also were incurred by Ducommun Data Systems in Cypress, also part of the company’s electronics-distribution business, and Jay-El Products, part of its aerospace-service business.

Fourth-quarter losses resulted from a combination of operating losses, inventory and program write-downs, and write-offs of receivables recognized in that period, said Booth.

According to Booth, however, Ducommon has taken several steps to trim overhead. During the year, the company consolidated its electronics and aerospace operations and sold some assets. The sales earlier this year of two divisions--Metermaster and Airdrome Parts Co.--generated $22 million in cash and a gain of about $9 million, which will be shown in results for Ducommun’s fiscal 1987 first quarter, Booth said.