NEW YORK, Feb 2 (AFP) - Boeing on Wednesday reported an 84-percent drop in net earnings in the fourth quarter, but the results were skewed by one-time costs to eliminate its 717 aircraft and cancel a big Air Force contract.
Fourth-quarter net income of was 186 million dollars, or 23 cents per share, as the aerospace giant's revenue rose one percent to 13.314 billion dollars.
Excluding special charges, the company would have earned 67 cents per share in the latest quarter.
For the full year, Boeing reported a net profit of 1.872 billion dollars, a jump of 161 percent from a difficult year in 2003. Revenues for the year rose four percent to 52.4 billion dollars.
"An intense focus on execution led to strongly improved results in 2004," said Boeing president and chief executive Harry Stonecipher, who took over the top job from Phil Condit in 2003 in the wake of several scandals.
"As we enter 2005 our focus remains on business execution, demonstrating our commitment to integrity and growing the business."
Boeing last month indicated it would set aside 615 million dollars to halt production of its 717 passenger jet, the smallest in its lineup, an to cover the costs of scrapping a deal for 767 tanker planes for the Air Force following a scandal over the terms of a lease arrangement.
Boeing projected earnings of 2.40 to 2.60 dollars per share for 2005 compared with average analyst estimates of 2.54 dollars per share.
02/02/2005 15:21 GMT - AFP