Thinner Gas Profits Hurt Chevron, Texaco : Earnings: RJR Nabisco income nearly triples on growth of its food and tobacco businesses.

Slimmer profits from refining and selling gasoline hurt third-quarter earnings at Chevron Corp. and Texaco Inc., the companies said Tuesday.

The country’s third- and fourth-largest oil companies, respectively, reported higher net income, but the figures were distorted by extraordinary gains this year and one-time charges last year. Not counting the special items, Chevron’s earnings were down 28% and Texaco’s dropped 11%.

Lower natural gas prices also affected both companies.

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Meanwhile, Phillips Petroleum Inc. said its profit tripled as it boosted production and kept expenses to a 1% increase.

San Francisco-based Chevron earned $425 million, or 65 cents per share, on revenue of $9.5 billion. A year earlier, earnings were $420 million, or 64 cents per share, on revenue of $9.2 billion.

Chevron said its chemicals business rebounded and that higher crude oil prices helped its oil-pumping earnings.

Texaco posted net income totaling $281 million, or 98 cents per share, on revenue of $8.96 billion. A year ago, the company earned $142 million, or 45 cents per share, on revenue of $8.49 billion.

Without losses from the sale of the chemical business, the White Plains, N.Y.-based company would have earned $317 million, or $1.13 per share, last year.

Phillips reported net income of $119 million, or 45 cents a share, compared to net income of $41 million, or 16 cents a share, a year ago. Revenue was $3.35 billion, up from $3.19 billion in the third quarter last year.

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RJR Nabisco Holdings Corp. said its earnings nearly tripled in the third quarter, reflecting accelerating growth in its tobacco and food businesses.

Operating profit at the company’s tobacco unit, which makes the Winston, Camel and Salem brands, rose 54%. The food business, including the Oreo and Ritz brands, posted a 24% gain in earnings from operations.

RJR Nabisco earned $216 million, or 11 cents a share, in the three months ended Sept. 30, compared to $76 million, or 4 cents a share, in the same period last year. Revenue rose 10%, to $3.97 billion from $3.60 billion.

Domestic tobacco operating income climbed 90% from a year ago, when the industry was locked in a price war. International tobacco earnings rose 14%.

In the food business, U.S. operating earnings rose 16%.

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Eastman Kodak Co. posted a weaker-than-expected profit of $193 million in the third quarter.

The company earned 57 cents a share on revenue of $3.53 billion. A year ago, largely because of $353 million in restructuring costs, it lost $68 million, or 23 cents a share, on revenue of $3.18 billion.

Without the one-time charge, the Rochester, N.Y., firm’s earnings were down nearly 31% in the third quarter.

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Reversing a year-earlier deficit, Glendale Federal Bank reported a $9.4 million first-quarter profit with far smaller provisions for loan losses.

The savings and loan’s profit, the equivalent to 12 cents per share, contrasts with a loss of $19.9 million, or 63 cents per share, during the July-September quarter of 1993.

That loss would have been $34 million except for a $14.1-million gain from the exchange of bonds of the thrift’s former parent, GlenFed Inc., for common shares of Glendale Federal.

Glendale Federal Chairman Steven J. Trafton said most operations improved during the latest quarter. Net interest income rose to $88.3 million from $71.3 million, while loan loss provisions fell to $18.8 million from $42.2 million.