Raytheon said Jan. 24 that its fourth-quarter net income fell 14 percent, hurt by lackluster sales, but it issued a better-than-expected profit prediction for the full year.
The Waltham, Mass.,-based defense contractor earned $469 million, or $1.42 per share, down from $543 million, or $1.57 per share, in the same quarter a year ago.
Excluding discontinued operations and one-time items, the company posted adjusted profit of $1.60 per share in the recent quarter.
Revenue was basically flat at $6.44 billion. Sales of integrated defense, missile, and space and airborne systems all rose slightly, offset by a drop in technical services revenue stemming from the completion of a National Science Foundation contract earlier in the year.
The results beat Wall Street predictions. Analysts, on average, expected $1.31 per share on $6.42 billion in revenue, according to FactSet.
For the full year 2012, Raytheon made $1.89 billion, or $5.65 per share, up from $1.87 billion, or $5.28 per share, in 2011. Revenue fell to $24.41 billion from $24.79 billion.
Raytheon projected adjusted 2013 profit of $5.65 to $5.80 per share on $23.6 billion to $24.1 billion in revenue. Analysts expect $5.44 per share and $24.1 billion in revenue. AP
