F-35 fighter
jet deliveries fall as Lockheed’s woes grow
January 24,
2017 Updated: January 24, 2017 05:57 PM
The US
weapons and aircraft maker Lockheed Martin said on Tuesday it delivered fewer
F-35 jets in 2016 than it estimated and also said it expected to report a
material weakness in internal control over financial reporting at its Sikorsky
helicopters business.
The company
said total net sales rose to US$13.75 billion in the fourth quarter ended
Decemeber 31, from $11.52bn a year earlier.
A material
weakness is a deficiency, or combination of deficiencies, in internal control
over financial reporting, that could result in misstatement of a company’s
financial statements.
Lockheed, the
Pentagon’s biggest weapons supplier, said that so far no material errors in the
financial results or balances had been identified due to the control
deficiencies at Sikorsky.
Lockheed also
said there was change in its previously reported financial statements due to
the control deficiencies.
The company,
whose F-35 fighter jet programme has been criticised by the US president Donald
Trump as too expensive, said it delivered 46 F-35s in 2016, less than the 53 it
had expected to deliver.
Lockheed said
it expected 2017 net sales to rise 4.6 to 7.1 per cent, compared with a
previous forecast of a 7 per cent increase. It forecast 2017 earnings of $12.25
to $12.55 per share.
Analysts on
average were expecting a profit of $12.87 per share on an near 5 percent
increase in sales, according to Reuters.
Net earnings
from continuing operations rose to $959 million, or $3.25 per share, from $817
million, or $2.63 per share.
Analysts on
average were expecting a profit of $3.06 per share on revenue of $13.03bn.
* Reuters
Original
post: thenational.ae
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