The former Raytheon Co. posted a 6.5% increase in net sales and a record backlog of orders for its defense systems in the first quarter before its merger with United Technologies Corp. on April 3, the merged Raytheon Technologies Corp. said Thursday.
The company also reported results that beat analysts’ forecasts for the former United Technologies businesses.
Raytheon Co., parent of the former Tucson-based Raytheon Missile Systems, had net sales of $7.1 billion in the first quarter ended March 30, up from $6.7 billion in first-quarter 2019, along with a record backlog of $51 billion.
Raytheon Technologies reported earnings for the first time, but its results included only the former United Technologies businesses — aircraft engine maker Pratt & Whitney and Collins Aerospace as well as its former Otis Elevator and Carrier heating and cooling subsidiaries, which United Technologies spun off as part of its merger agreement.
The company said first-quarter net sales were $18.2 billion, down about 1% from the prior year with sales at Pratt and Whitney up 11% and sales at Collins Aerospace down 1%.
Sales fell about 4% at Otis and slumped 10% at Carrier.
Raytheon Technologies reported a net loss of $83 million, or 10 cents per share, but that included about $1.6 billion in one-time charges including costs related to the merger and spinning off Otis and Carrier.
Without those one-time charges, adjusted first-quarter net income was $1.54 billion, or $1.78 per share.
Those results exceeded Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of four analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of $1.11 per share.
Raytheon Technologies declined to provide a financial forecast with its first-quarter results, citing “significantly increased global economic and demand uncertainty.”
The Pratt & Whitney and Collins subsidiaries, along with other commercial aerospace companies, are facing plunging demand amid the COVID-19 pandemic, as airlines ground thousands of planes and cancel new-plane orders and aircraft makers including Boeing shutdown their assembly lines.
Shares in Raytheon Technologies closed Thursday at $57.01, down 91 cents or about 1.6%, in trading on the New York Stock Exchange.
Raytheon Missile Systems, maker of the Tomahawk cruise missile and other front-line weapon systems, was combined with Raytheon’s Massachusetts-based Integrated Defense business to form Tucson-based Raytheon Missiles & Defense under Raytheon Technologies Corp.
