Motorola’s 3rd-Quarter Profit Doubles on 30% Sales Increase

Motorola Inc. nearly doubled its third-quarter profit amid sharply higher sales of semiconductors, wireless communications and advanced electronic products, the company said Monday.

Third-quarter earnings were $254 million, or 92 cents a share, compared to $127 million, or 47 cents a share, a year ago. Sales increased 30% to $4.4 billion, from $3.4 billion.

All of the company’s major divisions reported sales increases for the quarter, with semiconductors up 31%, general systems up 43% and communications up 20%.

“We are experiencing growth throughout the world, led by the Asia-Pacific region,” said George Fisher, chairman and chief executive.

“As digital computing and wireless communications technologies converge, we see this growth across a broad range of our semiconductor and equipment businesses,” he said.

For the first nine months, earnings were $682 million, or $2.50 a share, up from $272 million, or $1.04 a share, during the comparable period of 1992. Sales increased to $12 billion from $9.6 billion. The company recorded a onetime charge of $123 million in the first nine months of last year to pay for retiree health benefits.

Motorola closed down $2 a share to $98.50 in trading on the New York Stock Exchange.