Harris Corp. profit beats forecast

Buoyed by a streamlining that has shed 500 jobs in Central Florida, Harris Corp. said Tuesday that it posted stronger than expected profit in its latest quarter, although revenue fell short of Wall Street’s expectations.

The Melbourne-based high-tech company said it has used a combination of attrition and layoffs, some related to the spinoff of its broadcast division, to cut its Central Florida work force – a move that helped boost its latest quarterly profit.

Harris reported earnings per share of $1.18 in the quarter, beating the consensus Wall Street estimate of $1.13, according to Thomson Reuters’ analyst survey. Revenue totaled $1.19 billion, missing the forecast of $1.22 billion. Harris’ per-share earnings were also bolstered by i ts $200 million stock repurchasing plan.

Still, the company took some hits from the federal government’s budget crunch as it reported lower year-over-year profit and revenue in the quarter. Harris earned $127.4 million in the period that ended Sept. 27, down0.7 percent from the year-ago quarter. Revenue was down 5.5 percent over the year. Results were for the first quarter of Harris’ fiscal 2014.

Chief Executive Officer William M. Brown said the latest quarter “provided a positive start to our fiscal year.”

“Previous restructuring actions together with our continuing progress on operational excellence allowed us to post solid results in the quarter, despite the tough government spending environment,” he said in a prepared statement.

As part of the restructuring, the company said it eliminated about 500 jobs in Melbourne-Palm Bay through attrition and the planned spinoff of its Broadcast Communications division. That number included 150 layoffs announced in May.

Harris now employs about 6,000 in Central Florida. Harris and Orlando-based Darden Restaurants Inc. are the region’s only locally based Fortune 500 companies.