Boeing Posts $56 Million Loss as Strike Cuts Output

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aLu32iDHVcpU&refer=home

By Susanna Ray

Jan. 28 (Bloomberg) -- Boeing Co., the second-largest commercial-plane maker and defense contractor, posted a loss in the year’s final three months after a strike shut factories and faulty parts slowed efforts to restart production.

The net loss was $56 million, or 8 cents a share, compared with net income of $1.03 billion, or $1.36, a year earlier, the Chicago-based company said in a statement today. Sales decreased 27 percent to $12.7 billion. Boeing said full-year sales may exceed analysts’ estimates, and its shares rose.

Boeing delivered 50 aircraft in the quarter, 70 fewer than planned, hurting revenue by $4.3 billion and setting it further behind rival Airbus SAS. Full production resumed in December, after workers replaced thousands of bad parts found during the eight-week machinists strike that ended Nov. 2. The walkout stripped $1.8 billion from full-year earnings.

The fourth-quarter loss “may have marked the nadir of Boeing’s fortunes in recent years,” Rob Stallard, a Macquarie Research Equities analyst in New York, wrote to clients today.

Excluding costs related to delayed 747 programs and litigation, Boeing earned 62 cents a share, compared with the 78 cent average estimate in a Bloomberg survey of 17 analysts.

FULL story at link.