ITT expects to improve its operating performance.

ITT Corp. is ahead of budget, and its operating performance should continue to improve during 1987, Rand V. Araskog, chairman and chief executive, told shareholders at the annual meeting. “We had a good 1986 and a strong start this year and believe this level of performance will carry through the rest of 1987,” he said. ITT picked up $1.3 billion in cash and removed $750 million in debt from its balance sheet last year when it transferred its telecommunications equipment business into a joint venture, Alcatel NV, headed by France’s state-owned Compagnie Generale d’Electricite.