A SPOTLIGHT ON THIRD-QUARTER PROFITS It was the best performance in more than a year: Third-quarter profits rose 13% on a sales gain of 9%. Still, IBM and Computer Associates which had big writeoffs a year earlier, alone accounted for four points of that earnings jump. And while net profit margins again topped 6%, return on equity edged slightly lower for the second straight quarter. Among industries, the auto makers posted strong results; rising crude prices helped the oil companies. Less fortunate were the semiconductor manufacturers, where profits fell 36%, despite Intel's 41% jump. The price-earnings ratio of 20 is the highest since the fourth quarter of 1993.

Updated June 14, 1997 by bwwebmaster
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