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This article discusses how the tactics of National Intergroup Inc. (NII) Chairman Howard M. Love to diversify the company has resulted in heavy financial losses. National Intergroup's future looks about as shaky as Love's. The company has botched efforts to get into oil and drug wholesaling, and its steel business is the last profitable of the big producers. Love and his directors may lose their jobs. But the real losers are the public shareholders of NII. During Love's tenure, NII lost a total of 535 million U.S. dollars. As a result, while the market value of most major steel companies has risen dramatically since Love took over NII in 1980, his company has bucked the trend. It is worth a mere 400 million U.S. dollars today--about two-thirds as much as when Love became chief executive. For his part, Love says his outside activities never distracted him from running NII. Many of his trips were business-related. All the criticism, he says, comes from short-term-oriented investors who do not understand that a wholesale diversification takes years to accomplish. Besides, if he had not moved away from steel, NII would have gone bankrupt. Love argues that while his promise of big profits is behind schedule, NII will be flying by the mid-nineteen nineties. But Love made his biggest mistakes whenever he tried to diversify.

The article discusses the decline of steelmaker Armco Inc. of the United States. The company lost $1.9 billion between 1982 and 1986, much of it in diversified businesses entered by the former Chairman C. William Verity, Jr. To avoid bankruptcy, Verity's successors were forced to dismember the company. In 1982, the year Verity exited as chairman, the company lost $345 million. Armco's entrance into insurance has already generated $570 million in losses since 1982. INSET: WHY, OH WHY, OH WHY-O DID ARMCO'S BRASS LEAVE OHIO?.

The article focuses on the performance of the steel industry between 1982 and 1986 and an outlook for 1987 in the U.S. Over the five-year period, the industry posted $12 billion losses, two major manufacturers filed Chapter 11 and steel producer's balance sheets were drained because of increasing debt and pension costs incurred by plant shutdown. But for 1987, analysts believed that six major companies could earn $1 billion on $24 billion revenues and steel prices to rise 3 percent.

The article reports that Delaware-based investment group Pheasant Inc. has proposed to acquire debt-ridden public company Allegheny International Inc. for $500 million. The announcement caused Allegheny's stock price to increase by 12 percent in spite of a weak stock market. Allegheny's nearly one billion dollar debt contributed to a business loss of $109 million in 1985.

The article reports on the financial problems facing Bethlehem Steel Corp. The company has invested heavily on modernization under the leadership of chairman Donald Trautlein, but the steel industry depression that started in 1982 has caused the company to lose $1.9 billion, causing its balance sheet to deteriorate rapidly. The firm's debt as a percent of total capital stands at 52 percent and banks are worried that Bethlehem will not be able to meet its debt obligations.

The article focuses on the divestiture program of Armco Inc., which is suffering major losses in its major ventures. Robert E. Boni, chief executive officer (CEO) of Amrco, announced in the company's annual meeting that the company needs to undertake drastic steps to survive. It is noted that the company will sell its aerospace unit, reduce employment, and will return to its original steel making business.

The article focuses on the pressures faced by Thomas F. Faught Jr. as chief executive officer of Dravo Corp. in the U.S. When the company started losing, Faught decided to cut staff, divest some of its important businesses and freeze salaries. It states that the crisis was caused by the decline of its engineering and construction operations and its failure to adapt to a more aggressive environment. Faught's managerial strategies and how he eventually made the firm profitable were also discussed.

The article reports on the status of Bethlehem Steel Corp., which has fallen back to 15 after its stock had soared from 16 in 1985 to 22 in mid-March 1986. According to sources, it is due to the wake of a $ 92 million first-quarter loss, which is 48 percent more than its deficit in 1985. Moreover, Bethlehem and other big steelmakers are affected by the collapsing oil-drilling market, weakening auto sales, and soft capital-goods orders.