Manufacturers’ Profits Dip in 2nd Quarter

Profits at major U.S. manufacturers fell in the second quarter, the Commerce Department said. After-tax profits for manufacturers averaged 5.7 cents per dollar of sales in the second quarter of this year, down from 7.6 cents in the first quarter. Manufacturers’ profits were 6.4 cents per dollar sales in the second quarter of 1997. Manufacturers’ after-tax profits totaled $55.6 billion in the second quarter, falling from $74.5 billion in the first quarter. In the second quarter of last year, after-tax profits totaled $62.3 billion. And the annualized after-tax return on stockholders’ equity in the companies was 16% in the second quarter, down from a 19.6% rate in the first quarter and a 18.3% rate in the second quarter of 1997, the government said. The weakness in second-quarter after-tax profits occurred at those companies that produce big-ticket durable goods. Manufacturers of durable goods showed unadjusted after-tax profits of $28.9 billion in the second quarter, down from $44.2 billion in the previous three months. In the second quarter of 1997, durable goods manufacturers’ profits were $36.3 billion.