BUSINESS MEMO: D&K EARNINGS UP

D&K Wholesale Drug Inc. sales were down 3.8 percent, but net earnings were up for the first quarter of fiscal 1997, ended June 30.

Net sales were $106,234,000, down from the $110,463,000 for the same period a year ago. Net earnings for the quarter were $113,000, or 4 cents a share, compared to $34,000 or a cent a share during the first quarter of 1996.

"We are gratified to return to a profitable quarter following some unsatisfying results in the fourth quarter of fiscal 1996," said J. Hord Armstrong III, chairman and chief executive officer for the company.

Consolidation expenses exceeded expectations in 1996, said Armstrong, who added that the company has turned the corner following the consolidation of Duluth and Minneapolis distribution centers in Minnesota. "We feel the stage is set for greatly improved results."

D&K, headquartered in St. Louis, is a full-service regional wholesale drug distributor supplying customers from facilities in Cairo, Ill., Lexington, Ky., and Minneapolis.

The company will move its Cairo Distribution Center to Cape Girardeau later this year. Construction is under way on the new D&K facility on Rust Avenue.