MCA Stock Singed, but Most Operations Intact

The fire that ravaged the Universal Studios back lot also scorched the stock of parent company MCA Inc., which saw its shares fall $1.50 on Wednesday to close at $61.50.

The company said it believed that the damage to its back lot was fully covered by insurance, and analysts said the fire should have little impact on MCA’s operations or its ongoing merger talks with Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. Firefighters put out the blaze before it damaged any of the film vaults that contain the studio’s valuable archives.

“The house didn’t burn down,” said Jeffrey Logsdon at Seidler Amdec Securities in Los Angeles. “The essence of the company is intact,” he said of MCA’s libraries, distribution network and production apparatus.

Still, news of the fire triggered unusually heavy trading in MCA stock, with 1.58 million shares changing hands. It was the seventh-most active issue Wednesday on the New York Stock Exchange.

The studio has not put a price tag on Tuesday night’s fire, although some officials estimated it in the millions of dollars.

Police on Wednesday arrested a Universal Studios guard, Michael J. Huston, 40, on suspicion of arson.

Fire destroyed about 20% of the studio’s outdoor sets, which included those seen in such films as “Dick Tracy” and “Back to the Future.” The studio said the damaged portions will be “restored promptly.”

The fire will force a weeklong halt in the production of the John Landis movie “Oscar,” a Walt Disney Co. production starring Sylvester Stallone.

It destroyed the New York Street facade where the company was filming as well as the production’s entire wardrobe, prop and camera trucks, production trailers and 21 vintage cars.

With the exception of the King Kong attraction, the Universal Studios/Hollywood tour--one of the nation’s top tourist attractions with 5.1 million visitors annually--was open Wednesday.

The exterior of the stage that houses the King Kong attraction suffered damage but MCA officials said the attraction would reopen within a few days.