Newhall Land & Farming’s 4th-Quarter Profit Drops

Newhall Land & Farming Co., a real estate and agriculture concern that is developing the community of Valencia, said its fourth-quarter profit fell 38% from a year earlier. Newhall’s earnings for all of 1988 rose 35%, however.

In the quarter that ended Dec. 31, 1988, Newhall’s net income totaled $10.1 million, down from $16.3 million a year earlier. Newhall’s revenue inched down to $69.8 million from $70.5 million.

Newhall executives were unavailable for comment, but Newhall’s results often fluctuate depending on the pace of real estate sales.

For all of 1988, the company’s profit rose to a record $53.6 million from $39.6 million in 1987, and its annual revenue climbed 14% to $208.2 million from $183.3 million.