AFG More Than Doubles Its Second-Quarter Profits

AFG Industries Inc., the Irvine-based glass manufacturer that continues to boost its earnings with bold takeover bids, said Monday that its profits more than doubled to $24.7 million during the second quarter of 1987.

AFG’s quarterly income compares to $9.2 million during the same period in 1986. Sales reached a record $124.8 million during the second quarter, compared with $98.8 million a year earlier.

The second-quarter results include a pretax gain of $24.8 million from the sale of AFG’s stake in GenCorp Inc. AFG teamed up earlier this year with Wagner & Brown, a private Texas oil firm, to mount an unsuccessful but profitable takeover bid for the Akron, Ohio, conglomerate.

In 1986, AFG recorded a $19-million pretax profit from an unsuccessful attempt, again with Wagner & Brown, to acquire control of Lear Siegler Inc. of Santa Monica. The company also reported an $18-million profit last year from its investment in the stock in Merabank, a Phoenix-based commercial bank.

While securities gains accounted for $14 million, or more than half, of AFG’s second-quarter net earnings, AFG’s glass-manufacturing business also posted healthy gains. Operating income increased to $20 million during the quarter from $14.1 million a year earlier.

AFG Chairman R.D. Hubbard attributed the increase to record shipments of AFG’s flat-glass products, increased market share and expansion of the company’s manufacturing operations. He said AFG expects demand for several of the company’s speciality-glass products, such as shower doors, to outstrip supply for the rest of the year.

AFG plans to add two new manufacturing plants during the next year, including a float-glass plant in Victorville, Calif., capable of producing 500 tons of glass per day. The plant is expected to be in production by the end of 1987.

The company recently announced plans to build another 500-ton float-glass plant in Spring Hill, Kan. When the second plant begins operations next summer, AFG will rank as the nation’s second-largest glass producer, based on manufacturing capacity.