Lockheed Martin profit falls 6 percent on fewer jet deliveries

[April 21, 2015] (Reuters) - Lockheed Martin Corp, the Pentagon's No. 1 weapons supplier, reported a 6 percent fall in quarterly profit, partly due to fewer aircraft deliveries.

Weapons makers, including Lockheed and Raytheon Co,  have increased focus on international markets and the cybersecurity business as weak U.S. defense spending hits revenue.

Sales in Lockheed's aeronautics business, its largest, fell 7.4 percent to $3.13 billion in the first quarter ended March 29. The business makes the F-35, the radar-evading jet that at about $400 billion is the world's most expensive weapons program.

Revenue from Lockheed's information systems as well as missiles and fire control units also fell.

The company raised its 2015 earnings forecast to $10.85-$11.15 per share from $10.80-$11.10, and reiterated its revenue forecast of $43.50 billion-$45.00 billion.

Analysts on average were expecting full-year earnings of $11.14 per share and sales of $44.65 billion, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Lockheed's net income fell to $878 million, or $2.74 per share, in the quarter, from $933 million, or $2.87 per share, a year earlier. [ID:nPn7CMMVk]

Revenue fell 5.1 percent to $10.11 billion.

Up to Monday's close of $196.80, Lockheed's shares had risen 22 percent in the past 52 weeks, compared with a 12 percent rise in the S&P 500 index .

(Reporting by Sagarika Jaisinghani in Bengaluru; Editing by Simon Jennings)
 

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