spacetoday.net: Lockheed Martin reports stronger earnings, weaker space sales

Posted: Fri, Jul 27, 2001, 6:42 PM ET (2242 GMT)
Aerospace giant Lockheed Martin reported Thursday increased earnings in its fiscal second quarter, but noted weaker sales of launch vehicles and spacecraft. The company overall reported overall earnings of $0.33 per share in the fiscal 2001 second quarter, compared to $0.11 per share ($0.29 per share when nonrecurring income is added) in the same quarter a year ago. The company said that for all of 2001 the company expects earnings that are 30-35 percent higher than in 2000. However, the good earnings news was mitigated by slow sales in its space systems operating unit: sales were down 2 percent over the same period a year ago, and down 10 percent year to date compared to 2000. The company blamed decreased commercial satellite and launch activity for the decrease in sales, and said it was taking a $40 million writeoff in the quarter to account for "continued market and pricing pressures" on commercial launch vehicles. The company took a similar $40 million writeoff in the first quarter to account for schedule and technical difficulties in several commercial satellite contracts.