New York - US defence contracting giant Lockheed Martin reported Tuesday higher-than-forecast profits of 782 million dollars in the third quarter of 2009, while sales also improved bettr than hoped. The world's largest defence contractor said the net result, slightly surpassing the 782 million dollars in the same 2008 quarter, came while sales rose 4.5 per cent to 11.1 billion dollars.
Lockheed Martin said it is now projecting full-year profits at 7.40-7.60 dollars per share, up from 7.15-7.35 dollars previously. The full-year sales forecast remained the same at 44.7-45.7 billion dollars.
But looking to 2010, the company said it sees lower per-share earnings, ranging between 7.05 and 7.25 dollars. Sales were foreseen rising to between 46.3 and 47.3 billion dollars.
