APPAREL

L.A. Gear Reports 1st-Quarter Profit: The maker of athletic and leisure footwear said sales were buoyed by Wal-Mart Stores Inc. The company reported net income of $1.1 million, or a loss of 4 cents a share after the payment of dividends on preferred stock, compared with a loss of $11.6 million, or 59 cents after dividend payments, a year earlier. Separately, the Santa Monica-based company said its shareholders approved a previously announced agreement with Trefoil Capital Investors to exchange its $100 million of L.A. Gear Series A preferred stock for a new issue, reducing cash demands on the company. L.A. Gear Inc.’s domestic revenue rose 48%, primarily as a result of $30.2 million in sales to Wal-Mart to fulfill most of its 1995 $80-million minimum purchase agreement.