GM Units Post 17.3% Profit Gain in Quarter

General Motors Corp.’s financing, computer services and defense and electronics subsidiaries said Tuesday that their third-quarter profit rose by a combined 17.3% over the same period last year.

General Motors Acceptance Corp. reported the largest jump, 24.7%. Electronic Data Systems Corp. was up 17%, and GM-Hughes Electronics Corp., 7%.

General Motors is expected to report earnings today.

GMAC earned $293 million during the three months ended Sept. 30, compared to $235 million in the third quarter of 1989.

Lower short-term borrowing costs helped increase income from financing operations to $259 million from $170 million a year ago.

For the first nine months of the year, GMAC’s earnings rose to $931 million from $860 million last year.

EDS had net income of $128.4 million, up from $110.9 million for July-September, 1989.

Revenue rose to $1.53 billion from $1.37 billion.

EDS said it received nearly $6 billion in new computer services contracts, including a $450-million pact with First Fidelity Bancorp. of Lawrenceville, N.J., and a tentative agreement with Continental Airlines Holdings Inc., parent company of Continental and Eastern Airlines.

For the first nine months, EDS had a profit of $363.5 million on revenue of $4.4 billion, up from $315.8 million on revenue of $4.03 billion last year.

GM Hughes Electronics said increased sales of torpedoes, missiles and night-vision systems boosted third-quarter income to $158.1 million from $147.8 million a year earlier.

Revenue rose to $2.93 billion from $2.58 billion.

Third-quarter sales represented orders placed before Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait, spokesman Bruce McCristal said. He said it wasn’t known if Mideast tensions would affect orders for the current year.