By Tess Stynes
Northrop Grumman Corp. provided profit guidance for 2015 that
topped Wall Street expectations as the defense contractor reported
stronger fourth-quarter earnings.
For the year, the company forecast per-share earnings of $9.20
to $ 9.50 and sales of $23.4 billion to $23.8 billion. Analysts
polled by Thomson Reuters expected per-share profit of $9.11 and
revenue of $23.53 billion.
Northrop, the world's fifth-largest defense contractor by sales,
reported a profit of $506 million, or $2.48 a share, up from $478
million, or $2.12 a share, a year earlier. Excluding
pension-related impacts and other items, earnings rose to $2.26
from $2. Revenue eased 0.8% to $6.11 billion.
Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected per-share profit of
$2.25 and revenue of $5.99 billion.
The specialist in unmanned aerial vehicles, and electronic
surveillance and intelligence systems reported that as of Dec. 31,
its total backlog was $38.2 billion, compared with $37 billion a
year earlier.
The defense industry is entering its third year of declining
sales, driven by the budget cuts that started around 2012 at the
Pentagon, which remains by far their largest customer.
Write to Tess Stynes at tess.stynes@wsj.com
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