Ameritech Posts 10% Gain in Net Income; 5,000 Jobs to Go

Ameritech Corp. reported a 10% increase in first-quarter profit Tuesday and said it will cut 5,000 jobs, or about 7% of its work force, as part of a plan to slash expenses by $3 billion over the next five years and boost profit.

The Baby Bell posted earnings of $590 million, or 53 cents a diluted share, matching analyst estimates, compared with $536 million, or 48 cents, a year earlier. Revenue rose 7% to $4.13 billion.

Separately Tuesday, GTE Corp. said its first-quarter profit fell 6% to $624 million, or 65 cents a diluted share, from $665 million, or 69 cents, a year earlier. Analysts were expecting earnings of 66 cents a share.

Revenue, however, at Stamford, Conn.-based GTE climbed 11% to $5.88 billion, with particular strength in domestic network services, including wire line and wireless operations.

Ameritech said its cellular operations showed slower growth in the quarter.

Ameritech said the job cuts will be made in its cellular and home-security divisions, but a spokesman declined to say where the bulk of those workers are based or whether cuts would come through attrition.

Chicago-based Ameritech has 73,000 employees worldwide in such fields as local and long-distance telephone, cellular and paging service, Internet access and security monitoring.

On the New York Stock Exchange, Ameritech slipped $1 to close at $45.06, and GTE rose $2 to $62.13.