Ropak Corp. Doubles ’85 Net Earnings--$1.3 Million

Despite a fourth-quarter loss, Ropak Corp., a Fullerton-based maker of plastic products, said it increased net earnings for 1985 to $1.3 million, more than double the $577,000 of a year earlier. Revenue for the year was $32.2 million compared with $14.8 million in 1984.

For the fourth quarter, however, Ropak lost $12,000, contrasted with net earnings of $119,000 during the like quarter of 1984. Fourth-quarter revenues rose 97% to $7.3 million in 1985 from $3.7 million in 1984. Chairman William H. Roper said the fourth-quarter losses came from recently acquired operations that “build inventories in the first and fourth calendar quarters for heavy seasonal shipments in the mid-year periods.”

The improved results for all of 1985 were the result of increased market share, the acquisition of two former competitors in Canada and the United States, as well as “improved efficiencies resulting from greater volume,” Roper said in a prepared statement. Ropak has five plants in the United States and Canada.