Boeing has reported that its first-quarter net profit rose by 13% from a year ago to $586m, benefiting from a sharply lower tax rate that helped to offset a dip in sales.
The US aerospace and defence giant said earnings per share rose 11% to 78 cents, better than most analysts had expected. But revenues slipped 2% to $14.91 billion, missing expectations.
'We're off to a good start in an important year for our company,' Jim McNerney, Boeing chairman, president and chief executive, said in a statement.
Boeing's earnings from operations fell 15%, squeezing its operating margin to 6.7% compared with 7.7% a year earlier.
But the company said its effective tax rate dropped to 33.4% in the first quarter from 50.6% in the year-ago period, which had included a $150m charge due to healthcare legislation.
Boeing, which more than doubled full-year profits in 2010 despite a sharp fall in commercial aircraft sales in the final quarter, reported continued pressure in the segment but a strong order backlog. Revenue from commercial planes in the quarter fell 5% to $7.12 billion.
Boeing said flight testing in the delay-plagued 787 Dreamliner programme and the 747-8 programme was progressing.
It confirmed the first delivery of the 787 to launch customer All Nippon Airways was expected in the third quarter, three years behind the initial schedule, and the first delivery of the 747-8 Freighter is set for mid-2011.
Boeing booked 153 orders for aircraft in the period and removed 47 others, leaving net orders at 106, up from 83 a year earlier.
Boeing's defence arm ended the quarter flat compared with a year ago, despite a 5% rise in military aircraft revenue.
