Control Data Corp. said Tuesday it has revised downward its earnings figures for the fourth quarter of 1984 and the second quarter of this year.
The changes reflect a loss of some tax breaks, timing problems with financial reports of subsidiaries and an oversight in compiling Control Data`s consolidated figures, a company spokesman said.
For the fourth quarter, Control Data originally reported net earnings of $31 million, or 80 cents a share. That was changed Tuesday to earnings of $4.5 million, or 11 cents a share. That changes the figures for all of 1984 to net earnings of $5.1 million, or $1.26 a share. Originally, Control Data reported the year`s earnings at $31.6 million, or 81 cents a share.
The bulk of the $26.5 million change for the quarter is $16.8 million in tax breaks the company had to restate. The remaining change is attributable to losses at Earth Energy Systems Inc., a company of which Control Data moved from being an investor to parent, a Control Data spokesman said.
The Securities and Exchange Commission said those losses should have been charged against Control Data`s earnings in increments over the last three years. Instead, Control Data had lumped the three years of losses–$9.7 million–and charged them against 1984 retained earnings, the spokesman said. Instead of restating earnings for the last three years, the SEC agreed Control Data could simply restate the fourth-quarter 1984 figures to reflect the entire sum, the spokesman said.
For the second quarter of 1985, Control Data originally reported earnings of $3.8 million, or 10 cents a share. That was changed to a net loss of $4.8 million. That changes figures for the first half of this year to a net loss of $14 million. Originally the company reported a net loss of $5.4 million for the half.
”Problems in communication and timing” caused this restatement, the Control Data spokesman said. A wholly owned Control Data subsidiary, Commercial Credit Co., in turn owns 21 percent of Inter-Regional Financial Group. On July 20, Inter-Regional announced a $20 million writeoff for the second quarter. Commercial Credit`s share of that writeoff was $4.1 million.
