Wednesday, defense electronics manufacturer Elbit Systems Ltd. (ESLT) reported a sharp increase in profit for the second quarter that topped analysts' estimates, helped by
increased sales of communication equipment and unmanned air vehicle systems mainly in Israel.
For the quarter, net income attributable to the shareholders was $59.72 million or $1.39 per share, up 91.7% from $31.16 million or $0.73 per share in the prior-year quarter. Two analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to report earnings of $1.07 per share for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.
Quarterly revenues increased 11.5% to $728.29 million from $653.17 million in the year-ago quarter, primarily due to an increase in revenues from C4ISR systems attributed to increased sales of communication equipment and unmanned air vehicle systems mainly in Israel. Analysts estimated revenues of $740.00 million for the quarter.
For the quarter, the company had financial income of $11.44million compared with a loss of $12.37 million last year, mainly due to the company's hedging activity that reduced its exposure to changes in the value of U.S. Dollar versus the Israeli Shekel.
Israel-based Elbit's backlog of orders totaled $5.10 million as of June 30 compared with $5.03 million as of December 31, 2008. The company said that about 66% of the current backlog is due to orders from outside Israel, and about 69% of the current backlog is scheduled to be performed during the second half of 2009 and 2010.
For the six-month period, net income attributable to the shareholders increased to $102.97 million or $2.41 per share from $63.31 million or $1.48 per share in the same period last year. Year-to-date, net revenue was $1.39 billion, higher than $1.27 million in the previous year.
Further, the company declared a dividend of $0.36 per share, to be paid on September 15 to shareholders of record on August 30.
The company also elected Yael Efron as an external director on the company's board to a three-year term on August 11, replacing Yaacov Lifshitz, whose second term has expired.
ESLT closed Tuesday's regular trading at $65.40 on the Nasdaq.
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