Associated Press, reported here by Forbes, says Textron Inc. spent $1 million in the second quarter of the year lobbying Congress and the Defense Department, primarily to boost or maintain spending on Bell Helicopter programs like the V-22 Osprey and Armed Reconnaissance Helicopter.
--Bob Cox
Textron Inc., parent company of Fort Worth-based Bell Helicopter, reported double-digit increases in first quarter profits and revenues Thursday driven largely by continued strong sales and deliveries of Cessna business jets.
Bell revenues were $574 million, slightly lower than the first quarter of 2007, but profit more than doubled to $53 million. The company took a $25 million charge in 2007 due to cost overruns and problems with the Army’s Armed Reconnaissance Helicopter program.
Bell’s order backlog at the end of the first quarter was $5.2 billion, reflecting the first $1.2 billion in V-22 Osprey orders under a new five-year, 167 plane contract.
Revenues at Cessna Aircraft Co. increased 29 percent to
$1.25 billion. Cessna delivered 95 business jets in the quarter compared to 67
a year ago.
Textron is based in Providence, R.I.
- Bob Cox
Cessna Aircraft Co. said its Model 162 SkyCatcher prototype light airplane flew for the first time in Wichita, Kan. on Saturday.
"The first flight of the SkyCatcher is a significant step ahead toward our goal of bringing an affordable training aircraft to market," Jack Pelton, Cessna's CEO said in a staement.
The one-hour SkyCatcher flight departed Cessna's field adjacent to McConnell Air Force Base just after 7 a.m. and consisted of flight maneuvers evaluating the controllability and stability of the aircraft, the company said. The flight, flown by Cessna Engineering Test Pilot Dale Bleakney, proceeded to Wichita Mid-Continent airport where it will continue development testing.
Cessna, like Fort Worth-based Bell Helicopter, is a subsidiary of Textron Inc.
- Bob Cox
Textron Inc., parent company of Fort Worth-based Bell Helicopter and Cessna Aircraft Co., reported a fourth quarter 2007 profit of $1 per share, a 32 percent increase over 2006.
Both Cessna and Bell, Textron's two largest subsidiaries, reported solid revenue and profit gains for the quarter.
Textron's fourth quarter profits totaled $256 million, up from $195 million a year ago. Revenues for the quarter were $3.76 billion, 17 percent higher than $3.2 billion in 2006.
For the full year, Textron reported profits of $917 million, or $3.60 a share, on revenues of $13.2 billion.
Textron's Bell segment, which includes Bell Helicopter and several smaller businesses, had an operating profit of $84 million in the quarter, a 75 percent improvement from a year earlier, on revenues of $1.1 billion, which were up 12 percent.
Textron officials said they expected an even stronger performance in 2008 because of strong orders for commercial and military aircraft and helicopters, but the company's forecast was below Wall Street's expectations.
The conglomerate predicted full-year earnings between $3.75 and $3.95 per share on sales of approximately $15 billion. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial predict net income of $4.03 per share on revenue of $14.76 billion.
Textron projected a first-quarter profit between 75 cents and 85 cents per share, vs. consensus analyst estimates of 92 cents.
The year-end order backlog at Bell increased 23 percent to $3.8 billion. Cessna's order backlog was $12.6 billion, a whopping 48 percent increase.
The company said its 2008 forecasts include costs for development of a new, large cabin Citation business jet model which it has launched.
- Bob
Cessna Aircraft Co. formally announced today it will proceed with development of a new, larger cabin intercontinental Citation business jet.
Cessna, based in Wichita, Kan. is the worlds largest maker of small to mid-size business jets. But the company's product line did not include an aircraft with a larger, wider passenger cabin like those introduced in the last few years by several of its competitors.
Cessna unveiled a mockup for the larger jet during the 2006 National Business Aviation Association conference. Since then, company officials have taken the mockup to events worldwide.
Cessna is a subsidiary of Textron Inc., which is also the parent of Bell Helicopter.
- Bob
