Unilab Reports 71% Decline in Quarterly Earnings

Unilab Corp., a Tarzana laboratory testing service, said its earnings for the fourth quarter that ended Dec. 31 were $309,000, down 71% from $1.08 million in the same period a year earlier. Revenues for the quarter were $38.9 million, up slightly from $37.7 million in the fourth quarter the year before.

For the full year, earnings were $4.5 million, down 31% from $6.5 million a year earlier. Revenues for the year were $151.8 million, down 27% from $207.4 million for the previous year.

The company said the quarterly results were affected by decreased earnings in Unilab Groups Limited, an English and Swiss concern of which Unilab owns 40%, and also by interest payments associated with the acquisition of Pathlab in January. Strong domestic sales helped push up revenues for the quarter.

The full-year comparison reflects a restructuring which took place in November, 1993, when Unilab’s out-of-state operations were reorganized into a separate company, stripping down Unilab to its California-based operations. Also, the company took a $1.3-million charge in the first quarter of the recent year in connection to the Pathlab acquisition.