October 18, 1984

The American Telephone and Telegraph Company reported yesterday that it earned $317 million, or 28 cents a share, in the third quarter, well below analysts' expectations and the forecasts that A.T.& T. itself had made before its breakup in January. The performance was in sharp contrast to the better-than-expected profits reported this week by the seven regional holding companies that were spun off. The last two of those concerns also reported their quarterly results yesterday, with U S West Inc. earning $228.3 million, or $2.39 a share, while the Bell Atlantic Corporation earned $249.5 million, or $2.54 a share. A.T.& T.'s revenues totaled $8.01 billion in the third quarter. Because of the divestiture, mandated in an antitrust settlement with the Justice Department, a comparison of this year's results with last year's is not meaningful. In this year's second quarter, however, the company reported a profit of $456 million, or 43 cents a share, on sales of $8.63 billion.

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 18, 1984 International Strong pressure for lower oil prices was generated by a decision by the British National Oil Corporation to cut the official price of most of its North Sea oil by $1.35 a barrel, to $28.65. (Page A1, Column 4.) The Nobel Prize in Chemistry was awarded to Dr. R. Bruce Merrifield of Rockefeller University for research that has revolutionized the study of proteins and the development of important new drugs. (A1:5.)

The Defense Department is putting the finishing touches on a new military budget that would push its financing up to levels sought earlier but rejected by Congress, Administration officials said today. The officials said the Pentagon was preparing a $333.7 billion military budget for the fiscal year 1986, returning to a figure agreed upon in a long-superseded compromise last March between the Senate and the Administration. The fiscal year 1986 begins Oct. 1, 1985. If approved, the 1986 budget would represent an increase of 13.9 percent over what Congress appropriated for the military in the current fiscal year, which began two and a half weeks ago. This includes an increase to make up for inflation; the increase in real terms would be 8 to 9 percent.

SUNBEAM, Rival, General Electric, Mitsubishi, Electrolux and Juice-O-Mat are hardly the brand names that one would expect to find sitting on a shelf in a Paris shop. But there they are, emblazoned on an impressive array of vintage waffle irons and fans, vacuum cleaners, ice crushers, blenders and toasters from the 40's and 50's at Trophee, a St.-Germain gallery and shop. Trophee is one of a half dozen new home-furnishing shops that top the lists of many Parisians who consider themselves ''branche,'' or plugged in. Furniture from the 1950's as well as today's avant- garde designs, reproduction wine goblets based on a 1920's pat tern as well as sprightly bath towels that look like a Metro ticket are among the things that will appeal to visitors to Paris interested in design and home furnishings. With the exchange rate at more than nine francs to the dollar, small items as well

Construction of new homes, rebounding from two consecutive monthly declines, rose 8.9 percent in September, the Government reported today. The Commerce Department said new housing was started at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.68 million units last month, after declines of 12.3 percent in August and 6.6 percent in July. But applications for new building permits, a sign of future activity, dropped in September for the fourth consecutive month. Permits were taken out at an annual rate of 1.42 million units, down 3.7 percent from the August rate.