PHILIP MORRIS SEES DIP IN QUARTER.

Byline: Daily News Staff and Wire Reports

Philip Morris Cos. Inc. reported a 12 percent drop in fourth-quarter earnings because of expenses in settling a Texas lawsuit over the costs of treating sick smokers and charges for realigning its international food business.

But the company behind Marlboro cigarettes, Kraft foods and Miller beer said Wednesday its underlying earnings rose 10 percent from a year ago when unusual gains and charges are excluded from the comparison.

The company earned just under $1.30 billion, or 53 cents per diluted share, in the three months ended Dec. 31, compared with $1.47 billion, or 60 cents a share, a year earlier.Revenue rose 3.2 percent to $17.3 billion from $16.8 billion.

The results included a pretax charge of $645 million for legal expenses in a recently settled case in which Texas sued the tobacco industry to recover the costs of treating sick smokers.

Among other major U.S. corporations reporting quarterly earnings Wednesday:

The parent of United Airlines and Shuttle by United said Wednesday its fourth-quarter earnings jumped 63 percent as more passengers filled the carrier's seats on domestic flights and paid more per ticket.

For the three months ended Dec. 31, UAL Corp. reported net income rose to $231 million, or $1.74 a diluted share, from $142 million, or $1.06 a share, the comparable period a year earlier. Operating revenues rose 6.5 percent to $4.2 billion from $3.98 billion.

The Coca-Cola Co. posted a 7 percent increase in its fourth quarter earnings on Wednesday on a 5 percent rise in revenue. The world's biggest soft drink company earned $817 million, or 33 cents per diluted share, for the three months ended Dec. 31 compared with $762 million, or 30 cents a share, a year earlier. That was a penny shy of the 34 cents a share that analysts surveyed by First Call had expected. Net operating revenues for the fourth quarter were $4.7 billion, up 5 percent from $4.5 billion in 1996.

Polaroid Corp. on Wednesday reported a steep fourth-quarter loss, mostly because of a $323.5 million restructuring charge, but the company also blamed the strong dollar and lower sales in Russia and China for hurting results. Polaroid lost $202.8 million compared with a profit of $11.4 million a year ago as sales fell more than 8 percent, to $607.6 million from $663.4 million.

Wang Laboratories Inc. said Wednesday its second-quarter profit more than doubled despite a decline in revenue. The computer services concern earned $12.4 million, or 22 cents per diluted share, for the three months ended Dec. 31 compared with $4.5 million, or 3 cents a share a year ago. Revenue for the quarter dipped to $338.9 million from $343.4 million.