International Paper

International Paper Co., which had previously said it planned to take a huge write-off for plant closings and timber losses in the fourth quarter, said it lost $74 million in the three-month period.

The New York-based company took a pretax charge of $163 million to cover anticipated losses from the sale or closure of certain wood products manufacturing facilities and expected losses on West Coast timber leases.

It said earlier that it had expected a write-down of about $150 million.

A year earlier, the company posted a fourth-quarter profit of $68.7 million. Sales were steady at $1.1 billion.

For the year, the company had a profit of $120 million, down 53% from 1983. Sales rose to $4.7 billion from $4.4 billion. The 1983 results had included gains of $123.7 million from land and timber sales.

John Georges, the company’s president and chief executive, said operating profits in the paper and packaging business segments improved markedly. He said the persistent strength of the dollar and a slowing domestic economy at the end of the year “put pressure on our fourth-quarter operating results.”