Jan. 28--Chicago-based aerospace and defense giant Boeing on Wednesday reported record revenue on the strength of its commercial airplane business.
Earnings for the fourthquarter as well as all of 2014 were 19 percent higher than the year before, easily exceeding Wall Street expectations.
Boeing's profits were $1.47 billion in the fourth quarter,$5.45 billion for the year.
It reported quarterlycore earnings, which exclude certain pension and retirement costs, of $2.34 billion, or $2.31 per share, up 23 percent over the year before. That easily beat average analyst estimates of $2.11 per share.
Revenue in the quarter was $24.47 billion, up 3 percent over the prior year. For all of 2014, revenue was up 5 percent to $90.76 billion.
"Our commercial airplanes business successfully increased production rates and set an industry record for annual deliveries while also growing its backlog to new highs on record new orders for the year," CEO Jim McNerney said in a statement, adding that the defense sideof the company"navigated a challenging market environment to achieve solid revenue and healthy margins while also winning significant new contracts."
gkarp@tribpub.com
Twitter @spendingsmart
