UTC Bucks Trends And Is Positive For Next Year
United Technologies reported their earnings this week and while 2009 will see a decline they are positive about 2010. There is still some...Last Quarter Not Good For QinetiQ
QinetiQ reported a decline in their profits for 2009 which is a big change from last year when the company made over $1 billion. The recent removal...General Dynamics Positive For 2009
General Dynamics saw a decline in earnings during the most recent quarter. Overall the company remains positive for 2009. Unlike some of the...Textron’s Earnings Reflect The Market
Filed under: Bell, Business Line, Companies, Earnings, Events, Military Aviation, Textron, commercial aviation, logistics, production program
Textron reported their third quarter earnings yesterday. They did beat expectations by not having a loss but had a profit of about 1 cent a share. This was a decline of ninety-eight percent from the year before. Despite all this the company is confident they will make a profit for a year and earnings would be as predicted.
Textron decline is caused by financial products and their civil air division. Sales of Cessna aircraft a luxury item right now were down a lot. The company has been reducing their participation in the financial sector due to the general downturn there. Despite Bell Helicopter’s struggles with the Armed Reconnaissance Helicopter (ARH) the military part of the company saw some growth.
There have been previous reports that Textron might sell Bell or other parts as it reorganizes to face the current economic downturn but so far that has not happened. As with everyone the company will have to wait and see how the economy recovers and what growth occurs.
MiG probe undercuts Russia’s arms push
MOSCOW, Sept. 21 (UPI) -- Russia says it is investigating a claim by Algeria that Moscow sold it sub-standard MiG-29 jets, an allegation that could undermine Russia's drive to boost military exports in a bid to reverse the decline of its once-mighty defense industry.
Some In Germany Upset About EADS’ Performance
August 7, 2009 -- When there is a monopoly in any industry it can cause issues with the customer base. In Europe due to the decline in defense spending there has...European Union Limits Offsets
Offsets are the practice of when one country buys a system or services from a company in another they require that company to invest in their economy. They are not uncommon in the defense business. Right now India especially has very strict offset rules that have led to some controversy.
The European Union announced yesterday some rules to make offsets more targeted and defense related among its member countries. In the past some country’s have requested offset investment in their civil economy rather then in defense work. Normal procedure is to buy services, parts or maintenance related to the contract awarded.
The new rules require that the offsets be defense related. They also limit the total value to no more then equivalent to the awarded contract. Most often offsets are some percentage of the value so these rules are not to onerous. The EU has moved recently to tighten up competition among the various countries penalizing Italy for favoring their own internal industry over other available sources for example.
The offset rules announced will probably have limited effect since many of the projects are already shared among a variety of suppliers such as the Typhoon. If there is a decline in defense spending and the number of large contracts available there will probably be more efforts to expand competition and restrict protectionist policies.
A400M Talks Continue
Filed under: Boeing, Business Line, Companies, Congress, Contract Awards, Countries, EADS, England, Events, Military Aviation, Restructuring, Spain, Turkey, commercial aviation, development program, logistics
With the Paris Airshow coming up there is a great deal of pressure on EADS to be able to announce some good news at the premier showcase for their products. The company is looking at some severe issues on the military side with their major program the A400M facing push back from its customers.
This medium transport program is at a critical juncture as the nations looking to buy it have the right to end their deals and demand several million dollars worth of payments back from the company. England has been the most negative on the project as their budget problems overall are forcing an entire re-look at military procurement. Some of the other smaller countries such as Spain and Turkey have been more positive.
Now it is reported that talks between EADS and its customers have been extended once again to try and work something out. The hope is that more defense work will be able to balance off the decline in the civil aviation market driven by the world’s recession. Unfortunately like Boeing is facing EADS may have to deal with some major cuts to plans for U.S. defense spending. The FY 2011 budget may continue the large cuts to defense programs that Obama’s first one did.
Solid quarter for Orbital
Filed under: Earnings, Orbital Systems, S&T, Satellites, development program, space
Orbital reported their third quarter results today. Revenues were up slightly while earnings were down. The company did report strong bookings and their back log is significant at over $2 B. The company saw increased activity in the launch vehicle and advanced space programs. There was a decline in satellites and space services. Orbital provides a variety of space related services to US DoD, Department of Energy and NASA.
See the full press release at MarketWatch.com.
Raytheon reports
Raytheon had higher income this quarter compared, but had a decline in net. See a story release here. Raytheon continues the trend of defense contractors reporting increases in sales and income but not necessarily profits. Raytheon did predict that 2008 will be a good year for the company with a 15% increase in revenue.



