Fourth-quarter profit rose 18% at Southwestern Bell...

Fourth-quarter profit rose 18% at Southwestern Bell Corp. and 8% at BellSouth Corp., but another regional phone company, Nynex Corp., reported a loss because of the costs of a job-reduction and reorganization program.

St. Louis-based Southwestern Bell Corp. said its fourth-quarter profit totaled $316.2 million, or $1.05 a share, up from $267.5 million, or 89 cents a share, in the same period a year earlier.

Profit in the 1991 quarter was reduced by $30 million to pay for a restructuring program that resulted in the layoffs of about 3,700 managers at the company’s telephone subsidiary.

Revenue totaled $2.52 billion, up 3% from $2.44 billion a year earlier.

Atlanta-based BellSouth Corp. said its fourth-quarter profit was $386.9 million, or 80 cents a share, compared to $360.2 million, or 75 cents a share, in the same quarter of 1990.

Profit in the 1990 quarter was reduced by a one-time charge of 13 cents a share.

Revenue totaled $3.69 billion, up slightly from $3.65 billion in the same period a year earlier.

Nynex Corp. reported a fourth-quarter loss of $251.3 million, or $1.24 a share, contrasted with a profit of $60.7 million, or 30 cents a share, in the same quarter of 1990.

Earnings in the latest quarter were reduced by $550 million to pay for a previously announced cost-cutting program that includes job reductions and a restructuring.

Earnings in the 1990 quarter were reduced by $211 million for a restructuring program.

The White Plains, N.Y.-based company reported revenue of $3.24 billion, down from $3.44 billion a year earlier.