Bankers Trust’s Income Plunges 40% in Fourth Quarter : Results: Derivatives write-offs are blamed. GE and Bear Stearns also report setbacks.

Bankers Trust New York Corp., a top dealer in derivative securities, reported a 40% drop in fourth-quarter earnings and disclosed that it wrote off $72 million in bad deals on the arcane investments.

Meanwhile, General Electric Co. reported a 48% drop in fourth-quarter earnings after writing off $917 million on the sale of its Kidder Peabody brokerage.

Bear Stearns Cos.’ second-quarter earnings were down 75.6%.

Bankers Trust’s disclosure of its write-off surprised analysts. The bank also said another $351 million in derivative deals is at risk for non-payment.

Bankers Trust has canceled a number of derivative contracts to settle disputes with customers who claimed they were misled by the bank’s securities salespeople about the risks of the investments. But the size of the loss for the bank was unexpected.

The losses and lower trading revenue meant the bank earned $101 million, or $1.19 a share, in the quarter, down from $169 million, or $1.98 a share, in the year-ago period.

For all of 1994, Bankers Trust earned $615 million, or $7.17 a share, compared to $995 million, or $11.51 a share, in 1993.

Bankers Trust shares fell $1.125 to close at $57.75 in trading on the New York Stock Exchange.

General Electric reported earning $768 million, or 45 cents a share, in the quarter, compared to $1.48 billion, or 87 cents a share, in the same period a year ago.

The industrial conglomerate’s quarterly revenue increased 5%, to $17.79 billion from $16.99 billion a year ago.

The company said that, excluding the $917-million charge related to the Kidder sale, earnings were $1.69 billion for the quarter, or 99 cents a share, up 18%.

Wall Street didn’t like the news, sending GE’s share’s down $1.25 to $51 on the NYSE.

For the year, GE reported earning $4.73 billion, or $2.77 a share, compared to $4.31 billion, or $2.52 a share, for 1993. The results include a loss of $1.2 billion on the Kidder Peabody operations.

Earnings from ongoing operations, which exclude Kidder and 1993 restructuring and accounting charges, rose 22% for the year to $5.92 billion.

Annual revenue rose 8% to $60.10 billion, up from $55.70 billion for 1993.

GE said 11 of its 12 businesses had higher revenue for the year. Five businesses--GE Capital Services, Motors, Transportation Systems, Plastics and Information Services--had double-digit increases.

Bear Stearns said it earned $32.9 million, or 22 cents a share, in the three months ended Dec. 31, down from $134.8 million, or $1 a share, in the same period in 1993, citing difficult conditions in the stock and bond markets.

The New York-based firm’s overall revenue for the quarter fell to $826.7 million from $1 billion a year earlier.

Investment banking revenue fell 58% in the period. That decline was partially offset by some improvement in the company’s consulting business. Revenue from bond trading fell 60%.

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Apple Computer Inc. reported a surprising gain in fiscal first-quarter earnings, paced by record sales of its personal computers.

The company said it earned $188 million, or $1.55 a share, in the quarter, up from $40 million, 34 cents a share, a year earlier.

The results were far higher than Wall Street’s average expectations for earnings of $1.09 a share and surpassed even the highest estimate of $1.20 a share.

Apple’s stock, which closed before its earnings report was released, closed up 25 cents at $45.875 on the Nasdaq market.

The company also said revenue hit a record $2.83 billion, up 15% from a year earlier. Apple attributed its strong sales to growth of its Power Macintosh computer and entry-level multimedia Macintosh computers.

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Pacific Telesis Group reported flat fourth-quarter earnings.

The parent of Pacific Bell earned $262 million in the fourth quarter, down slightly from $265 million a year ago. In both periods, earnings per share were 62 cents.

Revenue was $2.36 billion, up from $2.30 billion in the fourth quarter of 1993.

The adjusted 1993 results did not include Pac Tel’s cellular phone business, which was spun off as an independent company a year ago.

The company added about 400,000 access lines during the year. But it felt pressure from California regulations that require it to lower prices. Pac Tel aims to lower costs by consolidating its 25 network operations centers at four locations this year.

For all of 1994, the company earned $1.17 billion, or $2.77 a share. In 1993, it earned $1.12 billion, or $2.71 per share. Both results exclude the cellular business.

Annual revenue was $9.27 billion, up slightly from $9.26 billion a year earlier.

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Union Pacific Corp. of Bethlehem, Pa., the hostile bidder in a battle for Santa Fe Railroad, reported a 9% increase in fourth-quarter earnings.

UP, corporate parent of Union Pacific Railroad, earned $256 million, or $1.25 a share, for the quarter ended Dec. 31, compared to $235 million, or $1.14 a share, during the same period in 1993.

Revenue was $2 billion for the quarter, up from $1.9 billion.

Annual earnings rose 3% to $546 million, or $2.66 a share, compared to $530 million, or $2.58 a share, in 1993. The 1994 figure included a $412-million loss from discontinued operations, stemming from the sale of its waste management subsidiary, USPCI Inc.

Revenue for 1994 rose to $7.8 billion from $7.3 billion.

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Burlington Northern, parent of Burlington Northern Railroad, said its earnings rose 20% to $142 million, or $1.51 a share, from $118 million, $1.25 per share, during the previous year’s fourth quarter.

The company attributed the improvement to record volume, especially in agricultural and coal transport.

Revenue rose 8% to a record $1.34 billion in the quarter.

For the year, the company earned $416 million, or $4.37 a share, compared to $296 million and $3.06 per share in 1993. The 1994 income was reduced $10 million by a one-time accounting charge.

The company had revenue for the year of $5 billion, up 6% from $4.67 billion in 1993.

Union Pacific is embroiled in a takeover battle with Burlington Northern Inc. for control of Santa Fe Pacific Corp., owner of Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway Co.

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Genentech Inc., a major biotechnology company, said its net profit fell slightly due to higher research costs. Genentech, maker of the heart drug Activase, the human growth hormones Protropin and Neutropin, and Pulmozyme for cystic fibrosis, said quarterly revenue grew 29% to $207.8 million.

But South San Francisco-based Genentech said its net income fell to $18.6 million, or 15 cents a share, from $18.7 million, or 16 cents a share, a year ago.

Genentech said sales of Activase, which breaks up blood clots that cause heart attacks, increased 19% to $280.9 million during the year.

Sales of Protropin and Neutropin, which treat growth deficiencies, rose 4% to $225.4 million, but the future of the products is uncertain. Genentech is fighting in court with two other companies, Novo-Nordisk and Bio-Technology General, alleging that competing products they have proposed would violate its patents.

Strong sales helped 1994 net income more than double to $124.4 million, or $1.04 a share, from $58.9 million, 50 cents a share, a year ago. Revenue rose 22%, to $795.4 million from $649.7 million.