Boeing Fourth Quarter Profit Up 59 Percent

Boeing reported a fourth quarter net earnings increase of 59 percent as costs fell by USD$1.2 billion.

Net earnings for the quarter to end December came in at $1.63 billion on total revenue of $23.3 billion, which was a slight revenue drop of 1 percent from 4Q15.

Net earnings for the full year fell 5 percent to $4.89 billion on a revenue drop of 2 percent to $94.57 billion.

Boeing delivered three more commercial aircraft in the fourth quarter at 185, but full year deliveries dropped from 762 to 748. That was still enough to easily beat rival Airbus who delivered 688 planes.

Revenue from commercial aircraft was $65.1 billion for 2016, one percent lower than the previous year.

“We led the industry in commercial airplane deliveries for the fifth consecutive year,” chief executive Dennis Muilenburg said.

For 2017, Boeing said revenue should come in between $90.5 billion and $92.5 billion, with an expected increase in commercial deliveries to between 760 and 765.

In line with 2016’s cost savings, capital expenditure for 2017 is expected to decline by approximately $300 million to $2.3 billion.

"Looking forward, our team is intent on accelerating productivity and programme execution to deliver increasing cash and profitability from our large and diverse order backlog of nearly $500 billion…, and capturing an even greater share of the the growing global aerospace market," Muilenburg said in a company release.