Boeing posts quarterly profit on revenue increase

Chicago-based Boeing reported a quarterly net profit of $1.27 billion, or $1.75 per share, compared with a year-earlier loss of $86 million, or 12 cents per share. The year-ago loss was caused partly by a 2008 labor strike.

Excluding one-time items, Boeing reported quarterly profit of $1.77 per share, compared with a Wall Street consensus estimate of $1.36 per share, according to Thomson Reuters
I/B/E/S.

Revenue rose 42 percent to $17.9 billion. Boeing Commercial Airplane's fourth-quarter profit was $9.2 billion, and its order backlog was 3,375 airplanes.

The company forecast a profit of $3.70 to $4 per share in 2010, which reflects the 777 production rate reduction and reduced scope on Army modernization and missile defense programs. Wall Street analysts expected the company to earn $4.26 per share in 2010 on revenue of $65.42 billion.

(Reporting by Kyle Peterson, editing by Maureen Bavdek)