WAR BOOSTS NORTHROP'S TOP, BOTTOM LINES.Byline: Gregory J. Wilcox Staff Writer War proved profitable for Northrop Grumman Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE: NOC) is an aerospace and defense conglomerate that is the result of the 1994 purchase of Grumman by Northrop. The company is the third largest defense contractor for the U.S. Corp. as the defense giant on Wednesday said it earned $184 million during the third quarter, in part because sales of ships, unmanned spy planes and space intelligence systems increased. The Century City-based company obliterated o·blit·er·ate tr.v. o·blit·er·at·ed, o·blit·er·at·ing, o·blit·er·ates 1. To do away with completely so as to leave no trace. See Synonyms at abolish. 2. Wall Street's per-share estimate on an operating basis and boosted its financial outlook for this year. Northrop Grumman's net income equaled $1 a share, a huge swing from a loss of $59 million, or 56 cents a share, in the like period a year ago. Revenues increased 57 percent to $6.619 billion from $4.214 billion for the comparable period of 2002. On a continuing-operations basis, which strips out one-time items and is considered a good way to compare quarterly performance from one year to the next, Northrop Grumman earned $224 million, or $1.21 a share, up from $141 million, or $1.17 a share, a year ago. Wall Street had been expecting operating earnings Operating Earnings Profits after subtracting expenses such as marketing, cost of goods sold, administration and general operating costs from revenue. Notes: Tax and interest expenses are not subtracted - operating earnings are synonymous with EBIT (earnings before per share of $1.01. ``We're delighted to report another excellent quarter,'' Ronald D. Sugar, the company's chief executive officer and president, said during a conference call discussing the report. He noted that during the quarter the company had double-digit year- over-year sales growth in Electronic Systems, Ships and Integrated Systems. ``And over the long term, based on our outlook for defense spending, our portfolio of programs and our opportunity set, we continue to expect strong top- and bottom-line growth with very strong cash generation.'' Northrop Grumman now anticipates 2003 sales of between $25.5 billion and $26 billion. The company also increased its earnings per share from continuing operations continuing operations Parts of a business that are expected to be maintained as an ongoing segment of an overall business operation. Income and losses from continuing operations are reported separately if any segments have been discontinued during the to $4.20-$4.30, up from the earlier estimate of $4-$4.25 a share. Paul Nesbitt, an analyst at JAA JAA Joint Aviation Authorities (European equivalent of FAA) JAA Judge Advocates Association JAA Junior Achievement of Armenia JAA Just Another Acronym JAA Joint Action Area JAA Joint Aerospace Applications Research Inc., said Northrop Grumman's results reflect the financial impact of the fighting in Iraq and the war on terrorism Terrorist acts and the threat of Terrorism have occupied the various law enforcement agencies in the U.S. government for many years. The Anti-Terrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996, as amended by the usa patriot act . The three biggest defense contractors all had better growth than executives and analysts anticipated. ``We're all used to dealing with the day-to-day dollars that are being spent to operate the Defense Department normally but we're not used to what is coming out of the war on terror This article is about U.S. actions, and those of other states, after September 11, 2001. For other conflicts, see Terrorism. The War on Terror (also known as the War on Terrorism ,'' he said. ``It's finally beginning to show up in the top line and bottom line of these companies.'' For example, Northrop Grumman's Integrated Systems unit sales unit sales Sales measured in terms of physical units rather than dollars. Unit sales data are often used by financial analysts when evaluating the health of a company. rose 21 percent in the third quarter, to $974 million from $807 a year ago, primarily reflecting increased sales to the F-35 fighter program and of the Global Hawk unmanned aircraft Unmanned Aircraft (UA) is a term used in the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) definition of Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS). UA refers to the aircraft portion of the system required to operate it, also known as Unmanned Aerial Vehicle. . Space Technology sales totaled $742 million for the quarter. Electronic Systems sales for the third quarter of 2003 increased 16 percent, to $1.5 billion from $1.3 billion for the third quarter of 2002. Ship sales, which include the financial results of the Newport News Newport News, independent city (1990 pop. 170,045), SE Va., on the Virginia peninsula, at the mouth of the James River, off Hampton Roads, near Norfolk; inc. 1896. and Ship Systems sectors, increased 24 percent to $1.4 billion in the 2003 third quarter from $1.1 billion in the 2002 third quarter. Sugar said that going forward the company is well-positioned to meet the nation's high-priority national defense and homeland security missions. ``We are in a target-rich environment. Our mandate is to maximize that opportunity set and become our customer's most trusted provider of systems and technologies.'' Gregory J. Wilcox, (818) 713-3743 greg.wilcox(at)dailynews.com |
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