P.M. BRIEFING : Control Data Reports Worst Year

Control Data Corp. today reported losses of $196 million for the fourth quarter and $680 million for last year, the worst annual performance in the computer maker’s 32-year history.

Lawrence Perlman, Control Data’s president and chief executive officer, has said 1989 marks the end of a six-year restructuring that has included $1.4 billion in write-offs.

For the October-December quarter, Control Data lost $4.63 a share on revenue of $524 million. That compared with a net loss of $12.8 million, or 31 cents a share, on $933 million in revenue in the same 1988 period.

The 1989 net loss of $16.11 a share on revenue of $2.9 billion compares with a profit of $1.7 million, or 3 cents a share, on revenue of $3.6 billion in 1988. The 1989 loss eclipsed losses of $568 million in 1985 and $265 million in 1986.

Aside from restructuring charges of $215 million in fourth-quarter and net charges for the year of $663 million, Control Data was profitable in its last two quarters, Perlman said.