ORANGE COUNTY EARNINGS

Newport Corp.: The Irvine maker of electronic components said second-quarter profit rose 47% to $2.2 million, or 23 cents a share, from $1.5 million, or 16 cents a share, a year earlier. Sales increased 6% to $33.8 million from $31.9 million. For the six months, net income totaled $4.2 million, or 44 cents a share, a 56% gain from the $2.7 million, or 30 cents a share, for the 1997 first half. Sales were up 7% to $67.5 million from $62.9 million.