Lockheed earnings: Sales rise; profits fall

While announcing third-quarter earnings that she labeled as positive overall, Lockheed Martin President and CEO Marilyn Hewson on Tuesday said job cuts that could affect Orlando operations are a matter of routine evaluations of the company.

“We are always looking at our business structure and looking at different excursions we should take to keep competitive,” Hewson said during a conference call. “It’s a matter of constantly looking at us being as affordable as we can.”

Hewson’s comments came during a call that saw Lockheed report a drop in net earnings, as well as a jump in actual sales year-overyear.

Overall, net sales rose to $11.5 billion as profit, or earnings, dropped to $865 million from $888 million during the same time period last year.

“Our strong operating results this quarter are a reflection of our corporate-wide focus on program execution and delivery of value to customers and shareholders,” Hewson said in a news release before Tuesday’s call.

Lockheed’s two Orlando units, which employ about 7,000 people in the area, also reported figures for the last quarter and the last nine months.

Missiles and Fire Control reported a drop in net sales and profit during the last nine months while Mission Systems and Training posted an increase in those same figures.

Last week, Lockheed said it would cut jobs in its Missiles and Fire Control division, with some of those jobs likely coming from Orlando.

msantana@orlandosentinel.com or 407-420-5256; Twitter @marcosantana