USX Reports Sharply Higher Net Income : Gains in Steel and Oil Businesses Cited for Rise

PITTSBURGH — USX Corp., buoyed by streamlined steel operations and rising crude oil prices, posted sharply higher second-quarter profit Tuesday. USX reported earnings of $149 million on revenue of $3.95 billion for the three months ended June 30. That compares to net income of $14 million on revenue of $4.17 billion in the second quarter of 1986.

“The current quarter’s results are gratifying and surpassed our projections,” Chairman David M. Roderick said. “All of our segments posted noteworthy operating profits.”

USX’s energy operations, which include its Marathon Oil and Texas Oil & Gas subsidiaries, had operating income of $223 million, up from $183 million in the second quarter of 1986, the company said.

Roderick noted that crude oil prices continued to rise during the second quarter.

The corporation’s steel operations had operating income of $37 million, contrasted with a loss of $59 million a year earlier.

Roderick said USX’s steel operations, the nation’s largest, lost money in April and in most of May but recovered in June. He said the shutdown of less-efficient steel mills and the new “competitive labor agreement” with the United Steelworkers of America “are beginning to show up in our steel results.”

USX and the USW settled a 183-day work stoppage, the longest in the steel industry’s history, on Jan. 31. The work stoppage affected about 22,000 USX workers and the company said the costs of post-strike mill start-ups adversely affected second-quarter results.

Roderick said the USS steel division has regained an estimated 13.5% of the market since the strike.