Boeing said today fourth-quarter profit rose a greater-than-expected 4 per cent, as higher deliveries of its commercial aircraft offset a dip in military sales due to the creation of a satellite launch joint venture.
The Chicago-based company said its hot-selling 787 Dreamliner plane, now about nine months late, was on target to meet the revised schedule set earlier this month, but it cut its full-year revenue forecast to account for the delay, as the first projected deliveries are pushed into 2009.
The world's largest plane-maker by sales, which is also the Pentagon's second-largest supplier, raised its full-year earnings forecast, citing productivity gains but left it short of Wall Street's average estimate.
Its shares, which have fallen 25 per cent since last July, on concerns about the 787, were slightly lower in pre-market trading, at $80 after closing at $80.96 yesterday.
Boeing reported quarterly profit of $1.03 billion, or $1.36 per share, compared with $989 million, or $1.29 per share, in the year-ago quarter.
That beat Wall Street's average forecast of $1.32 per share, according to Reuters Estimates.
Sales were essentially flat at $17.5 billion, as higher commercial plane sales were offset by lower revenue from its defense unit, due to fewer military plane deliveries and moving its satellite launch business into a separate joint venture.
It still beat analysts' average estimate of $17.2 billion.