Despite hitting or exceeding performance goals for test flights and other
measures, Lockheed Martin's aeronautics division saw fourth-quarter profits
drop by 3 percent or $16 million, the company said Thursday.
The drop was attributed to lower operating profits because of adjustments
to the company's F-16 and C-5 programs.
The earnings report comes on the heels of the layoffs of 260 hourly
workers at Lockheed's Fort Worth plant. Union officials said the layoffs,
which occurred across the board, caught them by surprise. But some have
surmised that, at least in part, the workforce reductions stem from the
Pentagon's decision to push back schedules on the F-35 program.
Even with the fourth-quarter decline, company officials emphasized a 4
percent rise in profits, to $1.7 billion, for the full year."We did better
this year than last year," said Ken Ross, spokesman for the aeronautics
division.
The company also said its F-35 test flights were 18 percent ahead of
schedule. Aircraft surpassed 5,000 flight hours, officials said.
Overall, the corporation, based in Bethesda, Md., said income from
continuing operations was $569 million, or $1.73 a share, in the fourth
quarter, compared with $698 million or $2.14 a share a year ago. But the
company is forecasting that 2013 profits will be higher than anticipated, in a
range of $8.80 to $9.10 a share, well above the $8.28 a share average estimate
of 22 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg News.
That projection, however, was largely overshadowed by talk of
"sequestration," or the looming automatic spending cuts that could hit defense
if Congress fails to resolve its budget woes.
"We remain deeply concerned that sequestration could occur as a default
outcome if negotiations fail to produce an agreement," CEO Marillyn Hewson
said.
Sequestration would put at risk the nation's defense industrial base and
its military readiness, and "hollow out" the nation's military forces, she
said.
Other quarterly data showed a 7 percent jump aeronautics division net
sales to $4.14 billion, attributed to higher aircraft deliveries in the C-5
and C-130 programs.
Net sales for the year ended Dec. 31 also increased by 4 percent, to
$14.95 billion, the report showed.
Lockheed has about 20,000 area employees in the aeronautics division and
its missiles and fire control division based in Grand Prairie.
This report includes material from Bloomberg News.
___
Distributed by MCT Information Services
