Profit for Newhall Land Drops 70% in 3rd Quarter

Newhall Land & Farming Co. said its third-quarter profit plummeted 70% from a year earlier because of the slowdown in the residential real-estate market.

Newhall, which is developing the community of Valencia, said net income in the quarter that ended Sept. 30 fell to $8.57 million from $28.4 million a year earlier. Its revenue tumbled 34%, to $48.7 million from $73.8 million.

The weakness in housing sales will mean Newhall’s earnings for all of 1990 will trail the company’s $68.7-million profit last year, Newhall said. In the first nine months of 1990, Newhall earned $28.2 million, down 29% from the $39.9 million it earned a year earlier, while its nine-month revenue inched up to $142 million from $141.1 million.