TRW Income Slumps Despite Increased Sales

TRW Inc., the Cleveland-based maker of defense and automotive goods, said Monday that its profit fell 19% despite a 13% gain in first-quarter revenue.

TRW blamed the lower profit on higher costs for product development, interest and taxes, the absence of one-time gains that were posted in the year-earlier quarter, and lower profit margins on certain contracts.

Ruben F. Mettler, TRW’s chairman and chief executive, said first-quarter results were in line with TRW’s expectations.

Mettler added: “We are encouraged by a strong sales performance and remain confident that, barring unusually harsh economic conditions, the full year 1987 will show a double-digit increase in earnings per share.”

First-quarter sales at TRW’s space and defense segment rose 12% from a year earlier, but the company said higher-than-expected contract costs kept operating profits flat.

In the automotive segment, first-quarter sales climbed 18% but operating profit slumped 13%, in part because of the absence of one-time gains for the quarter.