Rockwell Collins Revenue Rises, Earnings Drop; Company Raises Lower End of Earnings Guidance for Year by Five Cents
Rockwell Collins Inc. said its fiscal second-quarter revenue jumped 12%, as a recent acquisition helped push up sales.</br></br>Its earnings declined, however, largely due to an unfavorable comparison to the prior year's quarter.</br></br>The company also raised the lower end of its earnings guidance for the current fiscal year by five cents. It now expects per-share earnings from continuing operations between $4.40 and $4.55 a share. It backed its revenue outlook.</br></br>The aerospace and defense electronics group's revenue has been pressured over much of the past year as there was uncertainty about U.S. military spending and slow pace of economic recovery in the U.S. But earlier this year, the company boosted its outlook for 2014 and 2015 in response to the bipartisan federal budget agreement passed in December that provided an unexpected cushion to declining U.S. military spending this year and next.</br></br>The company closed its $1.42 billion acquisition of transportation communications specialist ARINC Inc. from investment firm Carlyle Group in late December. The move was designed to help the company reduce its reliance on government contracts and capitalize on the fast-growing information management market.