Northrop Grumman Third Quarter Profit Surges Ahead

Northrop Grumman says its third quarter profit has risen 62 percent as its Gulf shipyards recover from 2005's Hurricane Katrina and acquisitions boosted sales.

Northrop says sales growth was the fastest since the fourth quarter of 2004, led by a 19 percent surge at the company's ship unit, where profit on ships more than doubled.

Net income increased to US$489m, up from US$302m for the same period last year, while sales rose 6.7 percent to US$7.93bn.

Northrop says earnings per share are expected to increase to US$5.10 for 2007, but its overall sales forecast remains steady at US$31.5 mn.

By staff writer