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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Morrison Knudsen Losses Mount

From Wire Reports

Morrison Knudsen Corp. reported another $105 million loss for the third quarter of 1995, but nearly two-thirds of the red ink is from operations it has jettisoned in its bid to regain financial stability.

The loss, announced Monday, translates into $3.17 cents a share. The company lost just $3.2 million during the July-September period a year ago.

But that was before the bottom fell out for the one-time construction and engineering giant and former chairman William Agee was ousted last winter amid a sea of red ink that totaled over $300 million during the final months of 1994.

Since then, new management has begun restructuring the company, selling off what it calls noncore businesses and setting up short-term financing to give Morrison Knudsen some financial breathing room to get reorganized.

Nearly $70 million of the third quarter loss resulted from discontinued operations with the disposal of the transit car manufacuturing business and the proposed sale of the company’s 65 percent interest in the MK Rail Corp.

The 36.7 million loss from continuing operations, which contrasted to a $3.2 million profit on those same operations a year ago, was due in large part to over $25 million in expected losses on fixed-price heavy construction projections.

The company also lost $10.7 million in handling the lawsuits associated with Agee’s ouster and the subsequent restructuring as well as having to spend $7 million more to service a substantially higher level of short-term debt.

Dell Computer Corp. has again become one of the fastest-growing makers of personal computers, reporting an 82 percent jump in profit and 60 percent jump in sales for its third fiscal quarter.

Dell said Monday it earned $75.4 million, or 75 cents per share, in the three months that ended Oct. 29. A year ago, Dell earned $41.4 million, or 47 cents per share, in the same period.

Sales amounted to $1.42 billion, up from $884.6 million a year ago.

The performance exceeded Wall Street consensus forecasts of a 70-cent per share profit but the results were announced after stock market trading was over for the day. Dell closed down $2.37-1/2 to $41.37-1/2 on the Nasdaq Stock Market.

The Austin, Texas-based company, which specializes in direct sales to customers, attributed much of the growth to greater understanding of PCs by businesses. Executives said small and medium-sized companies were becoming more comfortable ordering a PC directly from it rather than relying on distributors.

The company has dropped out of the retail market but about 10 percent of its business comes from individual consumers.

Rockefeller Center Properties Inc., the publicly traded company that owns the storied Manhattan office complex’s mortgage, on Monday reported a third-quarter loss of $141.1 million.

The loss, which amounts to $3.69 a share, compares with a profit of $3.3 million, or 9 cents a share, in the same period a year ago. Revenue fell to $556,000 from $27.4 million.

Rockefeller Center Properties, a real estate investment trust, or REIT, is slated to assume ownership of the center from its current owners, which are currently under bankruptcy court protection.