Rockwell’s Quarterly Earnings Fall 32%

Rockwell International Corp. said Wednesday that its fourth-quarter earnings dropped 32%. But excluding discontinued businesses and one-time gains from a year ago, operating earnings were flat.

Earnings in the quarter ended Sept. 30 fell to $126.1 million from $185.9 million in the fourth quarter of 1988. The company said the year-ago quarter’s earnings were helped by a gain on the sale of its sewing machine business, a tax adjustment and profit from the now-discontinued B-1B bomber program. Excluding those, operating earnings would be about the same as the 1988 quarter.

Rockwell, based in El Segundo, said sales in the fourth quarter rose 3.7% to $3.28 billion. For the fiscal year, profit fell 9.5% to $734.9 million, while sales rose 4.7% to $12.52 billion.

Analysts said Rockwell’s results were in line with expectations.

The company said fiscal 1989 results were helped by healthy gains in its electronics and graphics businesses, and that those lines should continue to perform well.

“The 1989 results include a significant earnings increase from our electronics businesses,” Chairman Donald R. Beall said in a statement. “This segment . . . has become our largest in both sales and earnings.”

Operating earnings in electronics, which includes industrial automation devices, were up 30% for the year to $488.2 million. Operating earnings in aerospace were $417.6 million.

Looking ahead, Rockwell said its results for the first half of fiscal 1990 should be lower, primarily due to a slump in the automotive industry.

The company said it expected the automotive industry to recover during the second half of its fiscal year, and that results for fiscal 1990 would be about the same as in 1989.

Rockwell said its order backlog was $12.6 billion on Sept. 30, compared to $13.2 billion a year earlier.