BUSINESS NEWS
16 Jul 07. Top 100: 2007 Defence Rankings. Defence News published (16 Jul 07) its annual ranking of the top 100 companies, ranked by Defence turnover. Lockheed Martin remained in first place (1st in 2006); Boeing – 2nd (2nd); BAE Systems – 3rd (4th); Northrop Grumman – 4th (3rd); Raytheon – 5th (5th); General Dynamics – 6th (6th); EADS – 7th (7th);
L-3 Communications – 8th (8th); Finmeccanica – 9th (11th) and United Technologies – 10th (12th).
Comment: Other UK companies in the top 100 are: Rolls-Royce – 16th (17th); QinetiQ – 36th (27th); GKN Group – 40th (60th); VT Group – 45th (40th); Cobham – 46th (55th); Babcock International Group – 55th (74th); Ultra Electronics Holdings – 74th (79th); Meggitt – 82nd (66th) and Chemring – 100th ( – ). (Source: DNA DEFENCE NEWS ANALYSIS, Issue 0732, 13 Aug 07)
07 Aug 07. Denel sees upturn in performance. South African state-owned defence equipment group Denel has reported a net loss for the financial year 2006-07, but has also demonstrated a much improved performance, with turnover up by 18 per cent and net losses down by 60 per cent. The loss for the 12 months to 31 March was ZAR549.1m (USD78.4m) on a turnover of ZAR3,268.1m. (Source: Jane’s)
07 Aug 07. Harris Corporation (NYSE:HRS) reported that revenue for the fiscal fourth quarter ending June 29, 2007, increased 22 percent to $1.2bn, compared to $1.0bn in the prior-year quarter. Organic revenue growth was 13 percent. Orders in the fourth quarter were a record $1.4bn. GAAP net income was $88m or $.63 per diluted share. Non-GAAP net income, excluding charges associated with cost-reduction actions and acquisition costs, was $99 m or $.71 per diluted share. A reconciliation of GAAP to non-GAAP financial measures is provided on Tables 5 and 6 along with accompanying notes. For the full fiscal year 2007, revenue was $4.2bn, a 22 percent increase compared to fiscal year 2006. GAAP net income was $480m or $3.43 per diluted share, compared to $238m or $1.71 per diluted share in the prior year. Non-GAAP net income for fiscal year 2007, excluding charges associated with cost-reduction actions, asset impairments, acquisition costs and the gain associated with the creation of Harris Stratex Networks, was $391m or $2.80 per diluted share, a 26 percent increase compared to the prior year.
“Our fourth quarter results indicate solid momentum across each of our business segments, with double-digit organic growth and record-setting levels of new orders,” said Howard L. Lance, chairman, president, and chief executive officer.
15 Aug 07. Applied Materials Inc. is dodging some pain from the memory-chip market, but another class of chip makers — foundries that manufacture chips to the designs of other companies — is a concern. The Santa Clara, Calif., company, the biggest maker of chip-manufacturing equipment by revenue, said orders from those two sectors were lower than expected in its fiscal third quarter. Sales and earnings per share were a bit better than analysts expected, though net income dropped 7.5% on revenue that was up only slightly from the year-earlier period. The company’s business has been heavily affected by the market for memory, including the chips called DRAMs that are used in PCs and chips called flash memory popular in digital cameras, cellphones and music players. Demand is surging, but suppliers of those chips have been beset by sharp price declines, hurting their profits. (Source: WSJ)
14 Aug 07. ELBIT Systems Report Second Quarter Results. Elbit Systems Ltd. (the “Company”) (NASDAQ: ESLT), reported its consolidated results for the second
quarter ended June 30, 2007. On April 26, 2007, the Company completed the acquisition of the outstanding shares of Tadiran Communications Ltd. (“Tadiran”). Following the acquisition, the Company fully consolidated the results of Tadiran. On July 12, 2007, the Company reported that it anticipated the acquisition related expenses in the second quarter to be with