Boeing Co. reported a 14 percent drop in its first-quarter profits as higher spending on deferred compensation and pension expenses offset gains in its military contracting and airplane manufacturing businesses.
The Chicago-based aerospace company said Wednesday that earnings in the January-March period were $535 million, or 66 cents per share, down from $623 million, or 77 cents per share, a year earlier.
Excluding certain items, such as income from discontinued operations, Boeing said earnings from continuing operations amounted to 64 cents per share. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial had forecast 55 cents per share.
Revenue for the quarter was $13 billion, up 0.7 percent from $12.9 billion but short of Wall Street’s estimate of $13.3 billion.
The company said its overall outlook for 2005 and 2006 remains unchanged.
Boeing, which has trailed Airbus SAS in airplane deliveries for the past two years, also left unchanged its estimates of 320 deliveries in 2005 and 375 to 385 in 2006. It delivered 285 planes last year.
A flurry of recent orders for its planes has given the company momentum in the competition with its European rival.
Strong interest in its planned new 787 model, which the company says will offer 20 percent better fuel mileage when it enters service in 2008, has helped that resurgence. Analysts say Boeing also is reaping orders after reversing its unwillingness to give airline customers deep price discounts on new planes.
