Honeywell Earnings Decline

Jason Sandefur

Honeywell International Inc. posted a 17% decline in third-quarter profit to $344 million, while Q3 sales rose 3.6% to $5.77 billion. Earnings were impacted by higher pension costs and declining profit in the company’s aerospace and automation and control-solutions segments. The company said aerospace profit fell 10% to $303 million, while automation and control solutions’ profit dropped 12% to $205 million.

Honeywell posted revenue increases in three of its four operating segments. Aerospace revenue rose 1.1% to $2.23 billion on strong sales in the defense and space sector. Defense revenues rose 11%, and Honeywell won a contract likely worth $200 million to develop integrated software for the Army’s Future Combat System program.
Those gains helped offset declines in commercial aerospace.

�We’ve got to think that a lot of the planes (in storage) in the desert are not going to come out,” CEO David Cote noted.

Transportation systems revenue increased 8.2%, while automation and control solutions revenue climbed 8.6%, partly as a result of acquisitions. Web: honeywell.com �2003 FastenerNews.com