Boeing reports $1.11-bn profit for April-June as aircraft sales boom

Boeing Co, the world's largest aircraft manufacturer by revenue, has reported a net profit of $1.11 billion ($1.59 a share) for the quarter ended 30 June 2015, helped by booming sales of commercial aircraft.

Boeing said in a statement today it is now working through an order backlog for commercial jets totalling $431 billion.

Overall, Boeing reported a profit of $1.11 billion, or $1.59 a share, down from $1.65 billion, or $2.24 a share, a year earlier. Core operating earnings, which exclude items including pension components related to market fluctuations, fell to $1.62 from $2.42.

Revenue grew 11 per cent to $24.54 billion from $22.05 billion the year before.

Commercial aircraft deliveries rose 9 per cent to 197, helping boost second-quarter revenue by 11 per cent - the biggest increase in two years.

But the company cut its guidance for the year to account for the impact of a charge on its KC-46 refuelling tanker for the US Air Force. For the year, the company now expects core per-share earnings of $7.70 to $7.90, down from its prior guidance of $8.20 to $8.40.

The charge, announced last week - the second that Boeing has taken on the troubled tanker project - brings the total after-tax charges to just over $800 million.

Boeing, which had beaten European rival Airbus to win the contract in 2011, however, said the programme remains on track for delivering the initial 18 tankers to the US Air Force by August 2017 and building 179 tankers by 2027.

Boeing's shares were up 1.5 per cent at $147.20 in pre-market trading on Wednesday.