Textron profits rise 12.8% in 4Q on improved Cessna, Bell sales

TEXTRON INC. reported Wednesday that fourth-quarter profit rose 12.8 percent to $167 million, compared with $148 million in the fourth quarter of 2012. / COURTESY CESSNA AIRCRAFT COMPANY
TEXTRON INC. reported Wednesday that fourth-quarter profit rose 12.8 percent to $167 million, compared with $148 million in the fourth quarter of 2012. / COURTESY CESSNA AIRCRAFT COMPANY

PROVIDENCE – Textron Inc. – parent company of Bell Helicopter, Cessna Aircraft Co. and Textron Systems – reported fourth-quarter net income of $167 million, or 59 cents per diluted share, a 12.8 percent increase from $148 million, or 51 cents per diluted share, in the fourth quarter of 2012.

The diversified manufacturer and finance company saw revenue rise 4.3 percent during the quarter to $3.5 billion. Manufacturing revenue alone totaled $3.48 billion, a 4.6 percent increase over the $3.33 billion in manufacturing revenue reported for the fourth quarter of 2012.

Profits increased year over year in all but one of Textron’s corporate segments during the three months ended Dec. 28, improving upon Textron’s performance in the third quarter, when all but two segments saw falling profits. The Cessna segment reported profit of $33 million, 43.5 percent greater than segment profit of $23 million during the same quarter last year. Bell Helicopter’s segment profit rose 0.6 percent to $178 million from $177 million in the fourth quarter of 2012.

The Textron Systems segment saw profit rise 11.1 percent during the fourth quarter to $40 million from $36 million in the 2012 fourth quarter. Textron’s Industrial segment profit rose to $54 million in the fourth quarter, 25.6 percent greater than the $43 million during the same period last year.

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The only segment that did not report an increase in profit for the fourth quarter was the company’s financial segment, which saw its profit remain flat in the fourth quarter at $2 million.

For the entire year of 2013, Textron saw its bottom line fall 15.4 percent to $498 million, or $1.75 per diluted share, from $589 million, or $2 per diluted share, for 2012. The company reported a slight revenue decline of 1.1 percent from $12.2 billion during 2012 to $12.1 billion during 2013.

“Overall, we had a good fourth quarter to close out the year, with revenue growth at Cessna, Bell and Industrial and solid cash generation across all of our businesses,” said Scott C. Donnelly, Textron chairman and CEO. “2013 was an important year with significant new product introductions and investments for future growth of our businesses. Our 2014 outlook reflects the benefits of those efforts, and we will continue to make investments necessary to support ongoing growth and create long-term shareholder value.”

Textron has forecast 2014 revenue of approximately $13.2 billion, representing a 9 percent increase over 2013 revenue. Earnings per share from continuing operations in 2014 are expected to be in the range of $2 to $2.20, according to a company release. Cash flow from continuing operations of the manufacturing group before pension contributions is estimated to be between $600 million and $700 million, and expected pension contributions are roughly $80 million.

These projections do not include the impact of Textron’s planned acquisition of Wichita, Kan.-based planemaker Beechcraft Corp. for $1.4 billion, which is expected to close in the first half of this year.

A company spokesperson was not immediately available to say whether the 2014 projections included the impact of Textron’s new Textron Simulation & Training Systems unit. In November, when Textron announced the formation of the unit within the Textron Systems segment, total annual revenue for the new business was estimated at more than $100 million.

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