Pacific Bell Disconnects Its Incomnet Supply Line

Incomnet, a Westlake Village-based maker of equipment that allows people to send messages between computer terminals, reported that Pacific Bell has stopped buying its equipment and software.

The company reported that it has been paid about $2.5 million of the $5.7 million it was to receive under a five-year contract with the telephone company.

Anil Sharda, Incomnet’s director of finance, said Pacific Bell gave no reason for its decision, adding that Incomnet had been told its work was satisfactory. Although the contract technically has not been canceled, it has ended for all practical purposes, he said.

Pacific Bell, through a spokeswoman, declined to comment.

Incomnet’s stock fell sharply in the wake of the announcement. The stock closed at $1 a share Monday in over-the-counter trading, down 69% from what it was selling for before the company’s announcement last week.

Incomnet’s Pacific Bell contract was a major boost for the loss-plagued company at the time it was announced in May, 1985. Previously, Incomnet received all its revenue from operating a computer network that helps junkyards locate used auto parts.

Incomnet lost $2.1 million, or 27 cents a share, in the first nine months of the year from a loss of $3.3 million, or 46 cents a share, a year earlier as revenue increased 78.7% to $2.4 million.