Sun Micro to Spend $11 Million in Mexico

Sun Microsystems Inc. plans to invest more than $11 million in Mexico by 1999 to increase its market share in the country’s telecommunications industry and government, company executives said. Mountain View-based Sun has spent $14 million on marketing and administrative costs in Mexico over the last three years, said Jose Gomez Obregon, director general of Sun de Mexico, the company’s Mexican unit. That’s helped the company boost local sales in the 12-month period ending June 30 to $39.6 million, up 65% from the year before, Obregon said. The company’s sales during the next year could grow an additional 30%. Last week, Sun Microsystems said net income during its fourth quarter rose to $237.2 million, or 61 cents a share, from $122.3 million a year earlier. Shares fell 38 cents to close at $46.25 on Nasdaq.