Continuing job cuts and higher natural gas prices contributed to a sharp increase in second-quarter earnings, Amoco Corp. reported Thursday.
Amoco reported net income of $487 million, or 98 cents a share, in contrast to a year-earlier loss of $499 million, or $1 a share. Revenues slipped to $7.2 billion from $7.4 billion.
The year-earlier loss included special charges of $805 million for disposition of assets, restructuring and employment cuts, and $90 million in natural gas contract settlements. Operating earnings in the 1992 quarter were $216 million, or 43 cents a share, less than half the level of profits in the latest quarter.
“I am especially pleased that our ongoing cost-reduction efforts are making a difference on the bottom line,” said H. Laurance Fuller, chairman and chief executive.
Important factors in the increased profitability included a favorable swing of $139 million because of increased natural gas prices and volumes and lower exploration expenses, as well as a $94 million increase in operating results from higher refined product margins and improved productivity.
Amoco officials said the company’s effort to eliminate 8,500 jobs by the end of this year is on schedule.
The job cuts began in 1991, when there were 54,000 employees on the payroll. Amoco ended 1992 with 47,000 employees.
For the first six months of this year, Amoco posted earnings of $716 million, or $1.44 a share, up from a loss of $1.1 billion, or $2.25 a share, a year earlier. The latest six months included a charge of $170 million for the writedown of Congo exploration and production to current recoverable value. Revenues rose to $14.2 billion from $13.8 billion. Without the special charges, the company would have posted a six-month profit of $473 million, or 95 cents a share, in the year-earlier period.
R.R. Donnelley and Sons Co. reported flat results for the second quarter, as revenues slipped slightly. The Chicago-based commercial printing giant blamed cancellation of the Sears, Roebuck and Co. catalog earlier this year and a strong dollar that dampened foreign revenues.
Earnings slipped to $52.8 million, or 34 cents a share, from $53.7 million, also 34 cents a share, a year earlier. Sales declined to $993.9 million from $1 billion.
For the first half, Donnelley reported a loss of $38.8 million, or 25 cents a share, down from a profit of $89.2 million, or 57 cents a share, a year earlier. Revenues inched higher, to $1.95 billion from $1.94 billion.
The six-month loss was attributable to one-time accounting changes and restructuring charges in the first quarter, including $80 million for post-retirement benefits.
Spiegel Inc., the Downers Grove-based retailer, continued to show improvement in the second quarter as earnings rebounded to nearly $4 million, or 8 cents a share, from $122,000 a year earlier, when there were no per-share earnings. Revenues rose to $516 million from $466 million. For the first six months, profits rose to $6.9 million, or 13 cents a share, from $5.3 million, or 10 cents a share, a year earlier. Sales increased to $1.02 billion from $892 million.
General Instrument Corp.’s second-quarter profit rose to $12.3 million, or 20 cents a share, from a year-earlier loss of $10.2 million, or 23 cents a share. The Chicago-based communications technology company said sales rose 20 percent, to $312 million from $259 million. For the first six months, General Instrument’s net income rose to $23.7 million, or 39 cents a share, from a loss of $38.5 million, or 98 cents a share, a year earlier. Revenues grew to $615 million from $492 million.
American Telephone & Telegraph Co. Thursday reported a 9 percent jump in its second-quarter profit, noting improvements in its core long-distance business as well as communications products and financial services.
The company also announced several executive changes, including hiring former Wang Laboratories chief Richard W. Miller as chief financial officer.
AT&T earned $1.04 billion, or 77 cents a share, in the three months that ended June 30. It earned $961 million, or 72 cents a share, in the same period a year earlier. Revenue rose 3 percent, to $16.3 billion from $15.8 billion.
Spurred by increases in sales primarily in construction and automotive industry products, Illinois Tool Works’ second-quarter earnings climbed 7 percent, to a record of nearly $54.8 million, or 49 cents a share, from $51.2 million, or 46 cents a share, a year earlier. Revenues expanded to $829.3 million from $717 million.
For the first six months, the Glenview-based maker of engineered products for a variety of industries reported that profits rose to $96.8 million, or 86 cents a share, from $91.4 million, or 82 cents a share, a year earlier. Sales rose to $1.6 billion from $1.4 billion.
TNT Freightways Corp., a Rosemont-based regional trucking firm, said second-quarter net income rose 12 percent, to $8.4 million, or 58 cents a share, from $7.6 million, or 42 cents a share, a year earlier. Revenues rose to $226.5 million from $197.8 million. For the first six months, TNT said net income increased to $12.5 million, or 79 cents a share, from $10.3 million, or 58 cents a share. Revenues rose to $439.5 million from $378.8 million.
Andrew Corp., the Orland Park-based manufacturer of electronic communications gear, reported record earnings for the third quarter and year to date, despite a 3 percent decline in revenues.
For the quarter ended June 30, the company’s profit rose 10 percent, to $6.5 million, or 38 cents a share, from $5.9 million, or 30 cents a share, a year earlier. Sales slipped to $110.5 million from $113.9 million.
For the first nine months, profits rose to $15.8 million, or 93 cents a share, from $14.2 million, or 72 cents a share, a year earlier. Sales dipped to $311.4 million from $321.8 million.
Bell Bancorp Inc., parent of Bell Federal Savings & Loan Association, said first-quarter earnings dropped slightly and its provision for loan losses rose. The Chicago-based bank holding company said net income, before an accounting charge, fell to $5.92 million, or $1.06 a share, from $5.95 million, or 95 cents a share, a year earlier. There were fewer shares outstanding in the latest period, in which a $3 million, or 54-cent-a-share, charge for a change in accounting for income taxes resulted in net income of $2.92 million, or 52 cents a share. In the quarter ended June 30, the provision for loan losses increased to $300,000 from $45,000 a year earlier.
LaSalle National Corp. said second-quarter net income was $32 million. Net income available to common stock was $25.9 million, up 34 percent from the 1992 quarter. For the six months ended June 30, net income was $51.5 million. For the first half, net income available to common stock rose 15 percent, to $39.1 million from $34 million a year earlier.
Gains in first-half earnings were principally because of improved net interest income and non-interest revenue, said chief executive Harrison F. Tempest.
John Nuveen Co.’s second-quarter profit rose 7 percent, to $17.9 million, or 45 cents a share, from $16.7 million, also 45 cents, a year earlier, when there were fewer shares outstanding.
For the first six months, net income rose to $35.5 million, or 89 cents a share, from $26.3 million, or 71 cents a share, a year earlier, when the company took a charge of $3.1 million, or 9 cents a share, for an accounting change.
Palatine-based Suburban Bancorp said second-quarter profits jumped more than 15 percent to a new record, largely because of greater loan demand.
Net income rose to $3.6 million, or $1.06 a share, from $3.1 million, or 90 cents, a year earlier. For the six months, net income, including a previously reported first-quarter gain, rose 44 percent, to $8 billion, or $2.40 a share, from $5.6 million, or $1.63 a share, a year earlier.
