SEATTLE – Boeing Co. said on Wednesday its fourth-quarter net profits fell 79 percent, due to more than $600 million in one-time charges, mostly related to the Sept. 11 air attacks in the United States.
The world's largest plane-maker said on an operating basis, it earned $722 million, or 90 cents per diluted share in the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus forecast as reported by Thomson Financial/First Call.
Charges totaling $622 million, or 78 cents a share, lowered Boeing's net profit to 12 cents a share for the quarter.
Boeing blamed the Sept. 11 attacks for $563 million of its fourth-quarter charges, including $123 million for severance pay, $124 million in lowered values for used aircraft, and $157 million in projected losses on its slow-selling 717 jetliner.
Revenues rose 6.8 percent, to $15.7 billion from $14.7 billion in the fourth quarter of 2000. For the full year, revenues rose 13.4 percent, to $58.2 billion from $51.3 billion in 2000.
Net earnings for the full year rose 33 percent, to $2.83 billion from $2.13 billion in 2000.
The report showed Boeing's initial success in managing one of the worst financial crises ever to hit its airline customers, which have seen passenger traffic and revenues plunge and operating costs rise after Sept. 11, analysts said.
``The fourth quarter looked reasonably solid, but it was not a particularly important quarter, since it's backward-looking,'' said Chris Mecray, analyst at Deutsche Banc Alex. Brown.
Chicago-based Boeing faces declining jet orders and revenues for at least the next two years, prompting plans to fire up to 30,000 of 95,000 workers from its Seattle-based commercial jet unit.
The company projected revenues would fall to $54 billion in 2002, $1 billion less than previous estimates, and to $52 billion in 2003.
``Looking ahead, we are entering a challenging period, but with businesses that are performing well,'' Boeing Chairman Phil Condit said in a prepared statement.
Boeing shares fell 41 percent in 2001, the worst showing among the 30 Dow Jones industrial components. But the stock has rebounded from a six-year low of $27.61 posted just after the attacks.
In early trading Wednesday, Boeing shares were up 82 cents, or 2.1 percent, at $40.45 on the New York Stock Exchange.
Boeing also said it would deliver 380 jetliners in 2002, down from 527 in 2001, and between 275 and 300 in 2003. Most analysts believe those forecasts are optimistic and could be reduced.
``That's what they're saying now, but they keep coming down,'' said Paul Nisbet, analyst at JSA Research. Nisbet predicts Boeing will deliver about 333 planes in 2003 and 270 in 2003.
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