Control Data Reports $264.5 Million in Losses

Control Data Corp. lost $262.2 million in the fourth quarter of 1986 and $264.5 million for the whole year because of operating losses and restructuring charges, the troubled computer company reported.

But Robert Price, the Bloomington, Miss.-based company’s chairman and chief executive, said “the company did what it set out to do” in 1986 by strengthening its balance sheet, divesting unsuccessful units and improving operations. He said the No. 1 objective now is to return to profitability.

Control Data’s fourth-quarter loss compared to a loss of $267.5 million in the year-earlier period. The yearly loss was trimmed from a 1985 loss of $567.5 million.

The firm posted revenue for the quarter ended Dec. 31 of $903.6 million, down from $981.4 million for the same period last year. Total revenue for 1986 declined to $3.35 billion, down from $3.68 billion in 1985.