Bell Helicopter parent company posts lower fourth-quarter profits

Lower sales of commercial helicopters and private planes caused revenues to decline in the fourth quarter at Textron, the parent company of Fort Worth-based Bell Helicopter.

Textron said net income dropped five percent to $214 million, or 78 cents per share, while revenues decreased 2.5 percent to $3.82 billion. The earnings report disappointed Wall Street analysts who had expected the Rhode Island-based firm to earn 87 cents per share, according to FactSet Research.

Shares of Textron [ticker: TXT] dipped almost 10 percent in early-morning trading but rebounded later in the day, closing down 5 percent, or $2.65, at $46.73.

Revenues at Bell were down $148 million as the helicopter maker delivered 35 commercial helicopters in the quarter compared with 56 in the fourth quarter of 2015. Bell also delivered four V-22s, down from eight in the same period last year. Textron said Bell’s profits were up $2 million despite the lower revenues.

Textron told investors it expects 2017 revenues to increase 4 percent to $14.3 billion. The company also expects overall revenues at Bell to be flat at about $3.3 billion with a flat commercial market and lower V-22 revenues.

“Our V-280 Valor program continues to progress and is on track for first flight this year. On the commercial side, we’re continuing to see signs of stabilization of the market through improved order flow,” said Textron’s chief executive, Scott Donnelly, during a conference call with investors.

This story was originally published January 25, 2017 at 9:16 AM with the headline "Bell Helicopter parent company posts lower fourth-quarter profits."