Pacific Lighting Rebounds Despite Charge in Quarter

Pacific Lighting Corp. said Friday that its previously announced write-off of a $60-million stake in an abandoned coal-gasification project left net earnings for the third quarter of just $1.68 million on revenue of $163.1 million.

That reflected a quarterly performance substantially stronger than last year, when a one-time $60-million write-off--due to a state regulatory decision--resulted in a third-quarter loss of $9.46 million on revenue of $143.9 million.

Los Angeles-based Pacific Lighting announced Aug. 1 that it was going to write off its 10% interest in the Great Plains Coal Gasification project after the federal government rejected a proposed price-support and debt-restructuring package.

For the nine months ended Sept. 30, net income totaled $98.7 million, up 6%, on revenue of $456.2 million, compared to $413.3 million a year ago. Chairman Paul A. Miller said all lines of business were profitable, with non-utility operations accounting for 28% of operating income for the third quarter, up from 23% in the 1984 quarter.