Boeing on track to deliver 787 this year; 1Q profit down 15 pct, but tops analyst expectations

Boeing 1Q profit down; sees 787 delivery this year

MINNEAPOLIS — Boeing’s first-quarter profit fell almost 15 percent as it delivered fewer aircraft. But the company said it’s still on track for its most closely watched delivery: the first 787, by the end of the year.

Its shares jumped $2.60, or 3.7 percent, to $74.01 in morning trading.

Boeing’s first-quarter report on Wednesday was notable for all the potential bad news that wasn’t there. Sticking with plans to deliver the 787 by the end of the year might reassure those analysts who had been worried about further delays. Its 2010 profit guidance remained unchanged except for an accounting charge that investors found out about last month. And it said 2011 revenue should rise.

“The financial outlook for the world’s airlines has improved noticeably since last quarter,” said Jim McNerney, Boeing’s chairman, president and CEO, on a conference call.

He said Boeing will decide during the current quarter whether to increase the production rate on its workhorse 737 from the current 31 per month.

The airplane maker and defense contractor said on Wednesday it earned $519 million during its first quarter, or 70 cents per share. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters expected a profit of about 63 cents per share.

Revenue fell almost 8 percent to $15.2 billion, close to what analysts had forecast.

The 787 flew more than two years late. Boeing said the test fleet has flown for a total of 500 hours as of Friday. One of the planes was moved to Florida on Sunday for extreme weather testing at Eglin Air Force Base.

Boeing has orders for 866 of the planes, from 57 customers. The sooner Boeing delivers the plane, the sooner it gets paid, although customers have made major pre-delivery payments, too.

Boeing said it expects revenue of $64 billion to $66 billion this year. Analysts had been expecting $65.04 billion. It reduced its full-year forecast to $3.50 to $3.80 per share to account for a previously announced charge of 20 cents per share related to recently passed health care legislation.

Boeing said it expects 2011 revenue will be higher as it delivers the 787 and a new version of its 747.

Boeing’s commercial airplanes unit delivered 108 aircraft during the quarter, down by 11 percent from 121 planes a year earlier. Revenue fell 13 percent to $7.47 billion. That segment’s profit jumped 63 percent to $679 million because the year-ago quarter was held down by an accounting charge.

Revenue in Boeing’s defense, space and security division fell 1 percent to $7.61 billion. Its profit fell 6 percent to $664 million.