Whittaker Corp

Costs related to an acquisition caused earnings to decline at Whittaker Corp. in its fiscal year that ended Oct. 31. Whittaker in Simi Valley, a maker of products for the electronics and aerospace industries, purchased Hughes LAN Systems, a computer networking firm, from Hughes Aircraft last April, creating a charge of $3.3 million against Whittaker's earnings. Mainly because of the acquisition, Whittaker's sales in its final quarter jumped to $56.8 million from $38.7 million a year earlier.

For Simi Valley's Whittaker Corp., the communications segment of its business accounted for less than 10% of the company's $126 million in sales in fiscal 1994, with the remaining revenues coming from the aerospace industry. It was hardly a big slice of the financial pie. But, then, defense conversion still was a relatively new focus for the company.

A unit of Whittaker Corp., an aerospace and telecommunications manufacturer based in Simi Valley, has signed an agreement to develop a consumer-safe fueling nozzle for liquid natural gas-powered vehicles. Whittaker already claims to be the leading producer of aircraft fuel nozzles. With the signing of an agreement with CALSTART Inc., a nonprofit clean-car consortium, Whittaker is entering the race to produce an environmentally acceptable nozzle for cars and trucks. Whittaker Controls Inc.

Whittaker Corp., an electronics and aerospace concern in Simi Valley, has received approval to build a large residential and commercial development on the site of a former Whittaker plant in Santa Clarita. The Santa Clarita City Council voted 5 to 0 to allow Whittaker to go ahead with its Porta Bella project, which would include 2,900 homes as well as commercial, office and industrial buildings. The property is adjacent to the city's planned town center.

Whittaker Electronics Systems of Simi Valley was recently awarded a $1.6-million contract to provide communications equipment for Apache attack helicopters used by the United Arab Emirates. The Wideband Secure Voice and Data Encryption systems will allow pilots to communicate in code with their ground crew. Whittaker Electronics, a division of Whittaker Corp. in Simi Valley, has manufactured about 300 similar communication systems for the U.S. government since the early 1980s.

Whittaker Corp., based in Simi Valley, had improved sales but lower profits in its fiscal third quarter compared to the same period last year. In the three months ended July 31, Whittaker had net income of $1.7 million, or 18 cents a share, on sales of $44.3 million. This compared with a net profit of $2.9 million, or 31 cents a share, on sales of $33.1 million a year earlier. Thomas A.

As he walked across the eerily empty factory floor of the Whittaker Corp. electronics plant in Simi Valley, Chief Executive Officer Tom Brancati kept juxtaposing the used-to-bes with the going-to-bes. * Whittaker used to do 70% of its business with the military. Today, government contracts account for only about 30% of the company's revenue. Next year, it's going to be 20%, Brancati said.

Whittaker Corp. President and Chief Executive Officer Thomas Brancati was named the winner of the 1995 Free Clinic of Simi Valley Spirit Award. The clinic annually honors the winner during its anniversary dinner. This year's dinner is scheduled tonight at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum. Tickets cost $75 per person or $1,000 for a corporate-sponsored table. Doors open at 6 p.m. and the dinner and awards program begin at 7.

A company planning a move to Ventura County has awarded contracts for the overhaul of its new corporate headquarters in Simi Valley. Whittaker Corp., a defense and aerospace contractor that announced its move from Westwood last month, says it has hired Kulwiec Group/Architects of Camarillo and Al Lowe Construction of Westlake Village to finish the $1-million renovation of its two-story home on 10 acres at Los Angeles and Surveyor avenues.

A major defense and aerospace contractor announced Thursday that it would move its national headquarters from Los Angeles to Simi Valley this summer. Whittaker Corp. officials said 25 executives and staff will move Aug. 1 from Westwood to the firm's 10-acre plant at Los Angeles and Surveyor avenues. The Simi Valley plant already employs 450 of the company's 1,000 workers.