HispanicBusiness

Motorola Solutions Inc. said Wednesday its fourth-quarter results jumped 83 percent as growth in its business from government customers offset declines elsewhere.

The Schaumburg-based company, which makes a variety of products from retail bar code scanners to two-way police radios, earned $336 million, or $1.18 per share, compared with $184 million, or 56 cents per share, a year earlier.

Excluding one-time gains and losses, the company reported adjusted earnings per share of $1.10 for the quarter, up 26 percent from 87 cents a share a year ago.

Sales rose 6 percent to $2.44 billion. Sales to government customers rose 10 percent, while sales for other customers fell 3 percent. The company blamed a weak economy for the sales slowdown in its so-called enterprise segment, which include large retailers.

CEO Greg Brown said the decline appears more "cyclical than structural." On a conference call with analysts, he said he believes the enterprise segment will improve as business leaders grow more confident about the economy and spend more freely on technology.

In the fourth-quarter, the company signed new enterprise contracts with Target, Home Depot and Grupo Bimbo, the world's largest bakery company. It inked government deals to provide police radios and other public safety systems with Montgomery County, Pa.; Tacoma, Wash. and Austin, Texas.



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