October 23, 1981

Agfa-Gevaert, the photographic products subsidiary of the Bayer chemical group of West Germany, will acquire 51 percent of the Compugraphic Corporation, the leading maker of photocomposition equipment, for about $60 million, the two companies announced yesterday. Analysts labeled the transaction a ''distress sale,'' noting that Compugraphic had suffered a sharp two-year decline after more than a decade of rapid growth. The company's dividend of 7 cents a share was eliminated in April, its banks forced it to lower its credit line in July to $40 million from $70 million and analysts expect it to report next month that it finished the fiscal year ended Sept. 30 with a loss on sales of about $280 million.

Working under a contract to maintain Libyan aircraft and train pilots, Edwin P. Wilson, a former American intelligence agent who is now a fugitive in Libya, sent a retired Army sergeant here this year to offer $60,000 to $72,000 a year to pilots, mechanics and other flight personnel if they would work for the Libyan Air Force. According to several people familiar with the recruiting effort, Kenneth G. Beck, the Army veteran, returned in July to southeast Alabama, where he lived before going to North Africa to work for Mr. Wilson, in an effort to recruit a dozen pilots and other specialists for Mr. Wilson's Libyan operations. Some of those interviewed by Mr. Beck said that his main recruiting pitch was that the job was a chance to earn a lot of money in a short time. It could not be determined how many Americans Mr. Beck recruited. Only one, Richard L. Love, a helicopter pilot, is known to have signed on with Mr. Wilson's London-based company, Western Recruitment Inc., as a result of Mr. Beck's efforts. Officials at Gatwick Airport at London said today that Mr. Love and several others left this morning on a flight to Libya.

As more than 5,000 followers sang the ''Battle Hymn of the Republic,'' the Rev. Sun Myung Moon strode to a podium in Foley Square Park yesterday to declare that he was innocent of Federal tax fraud charges and that they resulted from religious and racial bigotry. ''I would not be standing here today if my skin were white and my religion were Presbyterian,'' the leader of the Unification Church, flanked by his top aide and translator, Bo Hi Pak, shouted in Korean. Dozens of bodyguards surrounded the speakers' platform at the carefully planned rally, which, in addition to patriotic songs, included speeches by supporters of Mr. Moon. The church leader, who arrived from South Korea Wednesday night, addressed the rally after appearing in Federal court across the street, where he was arraigned on the tax charges.

New orders for manufacturers' durable goods plunged 2.9 percent last month, the Commerce Department reported today. It was the biggest drop in 16 months and the latest in what has become an almost daily stream of economic indicators describing a recession. Robert Ortner, the Commerce Department's chief economist, said the durable goods report was ''not good for the immediate outlook for capital spending in the economy, which, after all, is the important component we're trying to get turned around.''

The General Motors Corporation today reported a loss of $468 million for this year's third quarter - a first indication that the Big Three auto makers are plunging back into the red after reporting profits for the second quarter. G.M.'s loss was larger than expected. General Motors, the world's largest automobile manufacturer, blamed sluggish sales, rising costs and expenses involved in bringing out 1982 models for its first quarterly loss since the third quarter of 1980, when it lost $567 million. ''I was anticipating a loss of about $300 million, but the third quarter is always tricky,'' said Philip Fricke, an analyst with the brokerage house of Goldman, Sachs & Company. The third quarter, when automobile companies shut down their plants to prepare for the introduction of new models, is traditionally their weakest period of the year. Despite the latest loss, General Motors' revenues increased to $13.4 billion in the third quarter from $12 billion in the like period of last year, primarily as a result of increased vehicle prices.