Industry Profit Falls, S&P; Says: Industries earned...

Industry Profit Falls, S&P; Says: Industries earned slightly less than 5 cents profit on the dollar in 1989, down 10% from the previous year--with no outlook for improvement in the near future, Standard & Poor Corp. said. Companies making up the S&P; Industrials saw profits fall from an average of 5.46 cents on the dollar in 1988 to 4.91 cents in 1989, and the average continues to slide. Profits for the four quarters ending in June fell to 4.38 cents for each sales dollar earned. The S&P; Industrials group entered the 1980s at almost the same profit level that it ended the decade with. In 1980, profit on the sales dollar was 4.92 cents.