EARNINGS

Startel Corp: The Irvine manufacturer of telecommunication systems posted a loss of $323,000, or 7 cents a share, for the first quarter. That compared to a loss of $263,000, or 6 cents a share, for the same period a year earlier. Revenue declined 21% to $1.1 million from $1.4 million. Don M. Berry, chairman of Startel, said that the revenue decline was primarily because of the reduced number of system sales to the telephone answering service market. The decline in revenue, combined with the costs associated with the proposed acquisition of Startel by Comverse Technology Inc., resulted in a greater loss, he said.