The Boeing Co. recorded a $1.6 billion loss in the third quarter after taking charges on its delayed 747 and 787 jet programs.
The company also expects to make a decision shortly on where to put a second production line for its 787 Dreamliner: in Everett or in South Carolina, said Jim McNerney, Boeing’s CEO, in a press conference.
Boeing and its union workers have “had trouble figuring it out between themselves over the last few contract discussions, and I’ve got to figure out a way to reduce that risk to the company,” McNerney said. He was referring to strikes such as one that shut down the company’s commercial plane factories for eight weeks late last year.
“Diversifying our labor pool and labor relationship has some benefits,” he said.
Despite recent speculation that Boeing’s troubled 787 may be delayed again, the company reiterated the jet’s schedule with first flight taking place this year and first delivery in late 2010.
“We look forward to getting the 787 and 747-8 in the air soon and moving forward with flight test and certification for these two important programs,” McNerney said.
Last month, Boeing disclosed a $1 billion charge on its 747-8 jumbo jet program. In August, Boeing had announced it would take a $2.5 billion charge on its 787 Dreamliner program, saying the first three airplanes would be sold as the company had planned previously.
On Thursday, Boeing announced that it wrote down another $138 million on the program between August and September.
As a result of all the charges, Boeing reduced its earnings per share estimate from July by more than $3 per share to between $1.35 and $1.55 per share from $4.70 to $5.00 per share. Boeing said it would issue its 2010 earnings estimate in the fourth quarter.
“The 787 cost reclassification and the 747 charge for increased costs and difficult market conditions clearly overshadowed what continues to be otherwise solid performance across our commercial production programs and defense business,” McNerney said.
The loss of $2.23 per share is more than what analysts had predicted. Various analysts polls by Bloomberg and MarketWatch predicted a quarterly loss of between $1.93 and $2.10 per share.
Revenues for the first nine months of 2009 rose 4 percent to $50.3 billion due to higher commercial deliveries and growth in the defense segment. Earnings for the first nine months declined to $0.06 per share, including the third-quarter charges.
Boeing booked 96 gross orders for commercial jets in the quarter but logged in 17 jet order cancellations. The company delivered 113 aircraft in the third quarter. That’s up from 84 deliveries in the third quarter of 2008. However, 2008’s performance was affected by the Machinists’ strike.
The company’s total backlog stood at $320 billion at the end of the quarter, down 2 percent.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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