July 29, 2010 – * Q2 adj EPS $2.58 vs. estimate $2.19
* Year profit, sales forecasts lifted
ATLANTA (Reuters) - Defense contractor Northrop Grumman Corp posted a better-than-expected second quarter profit Thursday aided by higher sales and a tax benefit, and raised its full-year forecast.
The company, which is consolidating its Gulf Coast shipbuilding operations and weighing a sale or spin-off of the entire ship division , said it now expects profit from continuing operations of of $6.60 to $6.80 a share for this year, up from its prior view of $5.75 to $6.00 a share.
Analysts currently expect profit of $6.72 a share for this year.
The supplier of unmanned spy planes and communications and intelligence work reported net earnings of $711 million, or $2.34 a share, for the second quarter compared with $394 million, or $1.21 a share, a year earlier.
Results included a benefit of 97 cents a share tied to a settlement of tax returns and a pretax charge of 24 cents a share for shipbuilding consolidation costs. Adjusted for items, profit came to $2.58 a share. Analysts expected $2.19 a share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
Quarterly sales rose 3 percent to $8.8 billion, compared with $8.61 billion expected by analysts.
Full-year sales of up to $34.8 billion are now expected, up from a prior forecast of $34.5 billion.
(Reporting by Karen Jacobs, editing by Dave Zimmerman)
