August 7, 1984

B. Altman & Company, which has opened only seven stores in its 119- year history, could be expanded nationally and its store sites offer the potential for ''significant additional value'' if some of the space is converted to offices and other uses, according to a confidential memorandum to prospective buyers. The bound-volume memorandum, prepared by Morgan Stanley & Company, spells out Altman's history, operations and financial data, much of it for the first time. The Altman Foundation, a charitable institution started by Benjamin Altman, the store's founder, was willed Altman's by the founder and has maintained privacy over its operations. But recently the foundation said it was considering the sale of the company to increase its assets for philanthropic purposes and to satisfy new tax laws. The memorandum was released late last month to a limited number of potential buyers.

Phibro-Salomon Inc., the big Wall Street investment banking and commodity trading house, yesterday announced that, after operating with two chief executives for nearly a year, it had decided to operate with just one. David Tendler, 46 years old, will step down as co-chief executive, a post he had been sharing with John H. Gutfreund. However, Mr. Tendler will continue to serve as co-chairman with Mr. Gutfreund, and chairman and chief executive of Philipp Brothers, Phibro-Salomon's commodities subsidiary. Mr. Gutfreund, 54, in addition to serving as the sole chief executive, will continue as chairman and chief executive of the Salomon Brothers subsidiary, one of the nation's leading investment banking firms.

Navy mine-sweeping helicopters have been sent to the Red Sea to help Egypt clear the waterway of explosives that have recently damaged commercial ships, Defense Department officials said today. The move to dispatch six RH-53D helicopters and spares came in response to a request from Egypt's President, Hosni Mubarak, and at the recommendation of a team of Navy mine-warfare experts. The team has been in the area since last Wednesday, according to State Department officials. Helicopters Loaded Over Weekend According to a Defense Department spokesman, Maj. James Pisciottano, the first transport planes carrying the helicopters took off before midnight for the Middle East. He added that the helicopters would be joined later by a Navy support ship.

The Senate today approved legislation designed to make it easier for women to receive retirement benefits under employee pension plans, either their husbands' or their own. The changes, which would apply to both men and women, have been pushed by both Democratic and Republican legislators and by the Reagan Administration as a symbol of concern for women's rights. President Reagan has said he would sign the bill, known as the Retirement Equity Act of 1984. Under the legislation, a spouse would have to give written permission before an employee could chose a plan that would stop pension payments upon the employee's death instead of continuing the payments to the surviving spouse. Under current law, an employee need not have a spouse's permission to waive payment of those benefits. Usually, payments to the employee will be slightly greater if payments to a surviving spouse are waived..

Officials said yesterday that 18 more children had reported being sexually abused at a Bronx day-care center, raising the total to 30. Edward McCarthy, a spokesman for District Attorney Mario Merola of the Bronx, said interviews by investigators had produced the new reports of abuse at the Praca day-care center, where three employees were charged last week with abusing 12 children. Mr. McCarthy said the children, 4 to 8 years old, named only the three suspects charged last Thursday. All the attacks had occurred since April, he said.