Northrop Grumman Profit Falls 9.3%
January 28 2016 - 12:22PM
Dow Jones News
By Anne Steele
Northrop Grumman Corp. on Wednesday posted a 9.3% decline in
profit as sales fell more than expected and the company adopted a
tax method change.
The company also said it expects earnings in 2016 of $9.90 to
$10.20, below analyst estimates for $10.49 a share, according to
Thomson Reuters. The company expects sales between $23.5 billion
and $24 billion, compared with analyst estimates for $24.47
billion.
Northrop has been one of the defense industry's top performers,
with share prices tripling since 2013 when it launched a buyback
effort. During the quarter the company repurchased 1.6 million
shares for $283 million, bringing the 2015 total to 19.3 million
shares for $3.2 billion. As of Dec. 31, $4.3 billion remained on
the company's share repurchase authorization.
For the December quarter the company posted a profit of $459
million down from $506 million a year earlier. Per-share earnings
rose to $2.49 from $2.48. The company said its results in the 2015
quarter were padded 33 cents a share on the passage of the
Protecting Americans from Tax Hikes Act. Adjusted for
pension-related costs, per-share earnings fell to $2.18 from
$2.26.
Revenue slipped 7% to $5.69 billion from $6.12 billion.
Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters forecast per-share earnings
of $2.01 on revenue of $5.94 billion.
In October, the Pentagon announced a contract valued at more
than $20 billion was awarded to Northrop Grumman over Boeing Co.
and Lockheed Martin Corp. to build the first 21 jets to replace
aging B-52 and B-1 warplanes.
On Thursday, shares of Northrop Grumman, which have risen 17%
over the past 12 months, were up 6 cents $178.25 in midday
trading.
Write to Anne Steele at Anne.Steele@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
January 28, 2016 13:07 ET (18:07 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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