Strike Sends GM Hughes Electronics Profit Down 11%
GM Hughes Electronics said Friday its first-quarter profit from operations fell 11%, largely because of the 17-day auto workers strike that shut down manufacturing at its biggest customer, General Motors Corp.
Los Angeles-based GM Hughes Electronics, a unit of General Motors, said profit from operations fell to $240.1 million, or 60 cents a share, from $268.9 million, or 67 cents, in the year-earlier quarter.
In the most recent quarter, a gain of $71.6 million, or 18 cents a share, on the sale of a 2.5% stake in the company’s DirecTv unit to AT&T; Corp. resulted in net income of $311.7 million, or 78 cents.
Per-share results fell short of the average estimate of 66 cents from Wall Street analysts.
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Cal Fed Bancorp said first-quarter net earnings more than doubled, reflecting increases in net interest income and fee income as well as lower operating expenses compared with the first three months of 1995.
The parent company of California Federal Bank posted profit of $29.6 million, or 46 cents a fully diluted share, compared with earnings of $14.7 million, or 17 cents a share, for the same period last year.
Separately, Sanwa Bank reported a 21% increase in net income for the first quarter.
The largest Los Angeles-based commercial bank said earnings from continuing operations were $14.8 million, or 62 cents a share, compared with $12.2 million, or 9 cents a share, for the same period a year ago.
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At a Glance:
Kellogg said its first-quarter profit from operations rose 8.3% to $212.2 million, or 99 cents a share, up from net income of $196.0 million, or 89 cents a share, in the year-earlier period.
Zenith Electronics said its loss widened by 45% in the first quarter, dropping $35.3 million, or 56 cents a share, compared with a loss of $24.3 million, or 53 cents a share, in the same period a year ago.
Liz Claiborne said its first-quarter earnings rose 28% to $35.9 million, or 49 cents a share, from $28.1 million, or 37 cents, a year earlier. . . . Comsat said first-quarter earnings fell 36% to $9.3 million, or 19 cents a share, from $14.6 million, or 31 cents, in the year-earlier quarter.
Adolph Coors reported a wider-than-expected loss in the first quarter of $3 million, or 8 cents a share, from a restated loss of $900,000, or 2 cents, in the year-earlier quarter. . . . ITT Industries, spun off from ITT in December, posted first-quarter earnings above estimates, reporting first-quarter net income of $40 million, or 33 cents a share, compared with year-earlier earnings of $45 million, or 34 cents.
First-quarter losses widened at Ascent Entertainment, owner of the NBA’s Denver Nuggets and the NHL’s Colorado Avalanche, to $4.3 million, or 14 cents a share, up about 23% from a $3.5-million net loss, or 15 cents a share, in the same quarter a year ago.
Tribune said first-quarter earnings fell 7% to $50.4 million, or 74 cents a share, from $54.2 million, or 75 cents, in the year-ago period.
