Manufacturers' profits rise

U.S. manufacturers saw higher profits in the fourth quarter than in the same quarter of 1992, the Commerce Department said yesterday.

After-tax profits averaged 3 cents per dollar of sales, adjusted for seasonal variations, up from 1.3 cents in the year-earlier quarter.

Durable goods manufacturers had profits of $8.5 billion in the fourth quarter, compared with a loss of $3.6 billion in the 1992 quarter.

Russian airline adds Boeing jet

Transaero Airlines, the Moscow-based airline spun off from Aeroflot, has become the first Russian carrier to add a new Boeing airplane to its fleet.

Boeing announced yesterday that it delivered a 757 twinjet to Transaero on Friday.

The deal had been threatened after the Russian government imposed a 50 percent tariff on all aerospace imports. But after a visit to Moscow last week by U.S. Commerce Secretary Ronald H. Brown and a cadre of U.S. executives, Russian officials agreed to waive the retroactive tariff. Boeing said Transaero will add another 757 later this month.