Whittaker’s Loss Balloons Amid Restructuring

Whittaker Corp. in Simi Valley reported a sizable loss for the fiscal year and fourth quarter ended Oct. 31, but company officials said a year of restructuring will help the company turn around.

The net loss for the year was $163.58 million, or $14.68 per share, nearly 10 times a 1996 loss of $17.12 million, or $1.62 per share. The net loss for the fourth quarter amounted to $83.96 million, or $7.52 a share, compared with a loss of $8.18 million, or 71 cents a share, last year.

In an effort to reduce its debt, Whittaker decided to sell its Xyplex Networks unit during the fourth quarter, and on Sept. 30 the company sold its defense electronics unit to Condor Systems Inc.

“It was a year of difficult and costly restructuring,” said Joseph F. Alibrandi, chairman and chief executive officer. “We divested our defense electronics business and strengthened our core aerospace units such that we expect a strong resurgence of profit from our continuing operations in 1998.”

Alibrandi said the company has reduced its bank debt by $32 million, to $130 million, and will continue to pare it down next year.

Sales from the company’s continuing aerospace and computer services units in fiscal 1997 were $95.13 million, down from $98.64 million for 1996. Its net loss from continuing operations amounted to $32.93 million, or $2.95 per share, compared with income of $9.81 million, or 93 cents a share, a year earlier.

Fourth-quarter sales in the units that Whittaker will keep were $28.48 million, up from $28.11 million a year ago. Losses from continuing operations for the quarter amounted to $17.83 million, or $1.60 per share, compared with a profit of $894,000, or 8 cents per share, a year earlier.