Rockwell Collins 4th-quarter profit falls

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) — Rockwell Collins Inc., a defense contractor and manufacturer of parts for private jets and commercial airlines, said Tuesday its fiscal fourth-quarter profit fell 26 percent, hurt by continued weak demand from the troubled airline industry.

However, government demand improved and the company said it sees signs of stabilization in the commercial market.

Profit for the three months ended Sept. 30 fell 26 percent to $134 million, or 84 cents per share, from $182 million, or $1.13 per share, in the same period last year. Excluding a charge of 9 cents per share related to closing a plant, asset impairments and other restructuring costs, net income totaled 93 cents per share in the latest quarter.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters predicted a profit of 87 cents per share. Analyst estimates typically exclude one-time items.

Revenue fell 7 percent to $1.19 billion from $1.28 billion last year. Analysts expected revenue of $1.22 billion.

Revenue at the company's government systems segment, which provides products and services to the Department of Defense and other government agencies, rose 17 percent to $741 million. However, revenue in commercial systems, which provides products and services to regional aircraftmanufacturers and airlines worldwide, fell 30 percent to $449 million.

For the fiscal year, profit fell 12 percent to $594 million, or $3.73 per share, from $678 million, or $4.16 per share. Revenue fell 6.3 percent to $4.47 billion from $4.77 billion.

"We are beginning to see signs of stabilization in our commercial markets," said CEO Clay Jones. "We believe conditions will improve sequentially through 2010, and expect the first fiscal quarter will be the low water mark of this cycle."

Rockwell Collins, based in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, reaffirmed yearly guidance of earnings of $3.35 to $3.55 per share on revenue of $4.6 billion to $4.8 billion.

Analysts expect a profit of $3.50 per share on revenue of $4.6 billion.

Shares fell $1.83, or 3.6 percent, to $48.95 in morning trading. The stock has traded between $27.67 and $53.06 during the past year.