ENERGY

Litton Spinoff to Buy Back Stake: Western Atlas Inc., a new company being spun off from Litton Industries Inc., said it has agreed to buy back the 29.5% of its oil services operations that it doesn’t already own from Dresser Industries Inc. for $558 million in cash and notes. Western Atlas, which is expected to be spun off by year’s end, is to take over Litton’s energy services and industrial automation lines. Litton, based in Beverly Hills, will continue operating as a military contractor. Separately, Litton said that defense business posted a net profit of $35 million, or 75 cents a share, for the quarter ended Oct. 31, contrasted with a loss of $74 million, or $1.84 a share, for the year-ago quarter. The year-earlier report included a $107-million charge due to accounting changes.