Pacific Scientific Earnings Quadruple on Division Sale
Pacific Scientific Co., a manufacturer of aerospace and industrial parts, reported that its earnings more than quadrupled to $8 million in 1991, due mainly to a onetime gain from the sale of a division.
The company also said Monday that it trimmed its work force by 11% during the year, including the dismissal of about 100 employees in Yorba Linda during the fourth quarter ended Dec. 27.
For the record:
12:00 a.m. Feb. 12, 1992 For the Record
Los Angeles Times Wednesday February 12, 1992 Orange County Edition Business Part D Page 2 Column 3 Financial Desk 1 inches; 28 words Type of Material: Correction
Pacific Scientific--A refund of an overpayment of federal taxes reduced Pacific Scientific Co.’s 1991 taxes to $4 million. A report in Tuesday’s editions incorrectly stated the tax amount overpaid.
During the year, Pacific Scientific shed 199 employees. It also sold its Belfab division, which employed 113 people who made industrial seals in Daytona Beach, Fla., for $14 million. At year’s end, the company employed 1,382 people.
“Over the past year, we’ve been working hard on improving our world-class manufacturing techniques and productivity, and as you improve, obviously you don’t need as many people,” said Chairman Edgar S. Brower. “We’ve also brought our military-related work force to a more realistic level.”
In Orange County, the company reduced its work force from 278 to 162, mainly through layoffs last December at a plant in Yorba Linda that makes safety belts for military aircraft, said Joe Allen, a company spokesman.
The company’s earnings, which amounted to $1.46 a share, contrasted with earnings of $1.5 million, or 20 cents a share, a year earlier. Sales fell 6% to $172.9 million from $183.9 million. The company attributed the lower sales to the recession, the sale of the Belfab unit, and slower orders in the military and commercial aerospace markets.
A $5.3-million gain from the sale of the Belfab division last fall enabled the company to show a healthy profit despite a slowdown in orders due to the recession, Brower said. Earnings also benefited from an income tax review that showed the company paid $4 million in excess taxes in previous years.
For the fourth quarter, the company earned $1 million, or 20 cents a share, contrasted with a loss of $2.4 million, or 47 cents a share, a year earlier. Revenue dropped 10% to $41.3 million from $46 million.
Brower predicted flat sales in 1992 because of the continuing recession.
He said the company’s Fisher-Pierce division, which makes outdoor lighting control products, is now profitable after losing $2 million for the first eight months of 1991 and $6 million in 1990. The company moved the Fisher-Pierce plant last year from Puerto Rico to Weymouth, Mass.
