Control Data Corp – dull first quarter figures are in Company Results alongside – is looking for an improvement over last year’s $19.3m profits for 1988, with most of the strength coming in the second half. The company says that the first quarter figures reflect strength in the data storage products business, and looks for this to be bolstered by new products and continuing good sales of larger disk drives. The mainframe and workstation business showed an operating profit before interest and tax on lower sales during the quarter: while volume shipments of computers were higher, the mix was slewed away from the higher margin mid-range systems compared with the same period last year. There were also fewer conversions from lease to outright purchase, and another drain on the company’s resources was continuing expenses at its ETA Systems supercomputer subsidiary ahead of shipments that are planned for the second half of the year.
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