Arco earnings soar

Friday, Jan. 21, 2000 | 12:04 p.m.

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

LOS ANGELES -- Atlantic Richfield Co. earnings rose nearly eightfold in the fourth quarter from a year earlier, reflecting sharply higher oil prices and an aggressive cost-cutting campaign.

Arco, which has agreed to merge with BP Amoco, said Thursday it earned $541 million, or $1.64 a share, excluding special items. That soundly beat the $1.49 a share expected by analysts surveyed by First Call/Thomson Financial.

In the fourth quarter of 1998, Arco's earnings excluding items were $70 million, or 22 cents a share.

Including special items, net income in the fourth quarter was $572 million, or $1.74 a share, compared with a loss of $794 million, or $2.47 a share, a year earlier.

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