SECURITIES

Investigations Hurt Prudential Profit: Prudential Securities’ pretax profit jumped 8.2% in the first six months of 1993 to a record $138 million, but would have been more if not for the legal troubles and pending investigations related to its limited partnership debacle in the 1980s, a spokesman said. The brokerage faces massive lawsuits and investigations by the Securities and Exchange Commission and numerous states, as well as a federal criminal probe. “There is a good chance we would have been doing even better” without the stigma of the investigations, the spokesman said. “Obviously, a lot of clients ask questions about it.” Former customers lost well over $1 billion from the limited partnership investments.