Fidelity Earnings Rose 27% Last Year

Fidelity Investments, the world’s biggest mutual fund company, said net income increased 27% last year, bolstered by profit from the sale of nonfinancial businesses. The closely held Boston-based company reported earnings of $535.6 million in 1997, up from $423.1 million in 1996. The sales included a stake in Colt Telecom Group, a London-based telecommunications company, a credit card business and a chain of art galleries. Fidelity said revenue rose 16.5% to a record $5.88 billion in 1997 from $5.05 billion in 1996, and assets under management gained 22.2% to $606.6 billion at the end of last year. Fidelity Chairman and Chief Executive Edward C. Johnson III wrote in the company’s annual report that “fund sales, sluggish at the outset of the year, picked up significantly in the second half as our investment performance improved and the domestic stock market continued climbing.”