St. Ives Labs’ 4th-Quarter Profits Plunge by 71%

St. Ives Laboratories, a maker of shampoos, skin lotions and other personal-care products, said its fourth-quarter profit tumbled 71% from a year earlier but that full-year earnings climbed 43% from 1986.

Chatsworth-based St. Ives said net income in the quarter ended Dec. 31 fell to $135,000, or 2 cents a share, from $458,000, or 8 cents a share, a year earlier. Sales rose to $21.2 million from $18.8 million.

St. Ives attributed the earnings drop to a 33% jump in its selling, marketing and administrative expenses, which reflected higher costs related to new-product introductions and increased promotion of existing products.

For all of 1987, St. Ives’ profit rose to $4.07 million, or 63 cents a share, from $2.84 million, or 47 cents a share, the previous year. Annual sales increased 13% to $87.9 million from $77.8 million.