Rockwell says sales were up

Cedar Rapids-based Rockwell Collins today announced sales were up significantly this year. Rockwell Collins president and C-E-O Clay Jones briefed investors this morning on results in the latest quarter.The company which builds communications equipment for aircraft sold two-point-eight billion dollars worth of equipment this past fiscal year — a 12 percent increase in sales. Rockwell Collins recently landed a U-S defense department contract for fighter jet equipment which will be worth more than two billion dollars over 40 years.Jones says his company will soon get a government check to begin developing display systems for the cockpits, data links, and a small screen display that’ll be mounted inside a helmet. Jones predicts profits for his company again in 2002. He says the aftermath of the 9-11 terrorist attacks have made projections difficult.In mid-October, Rockwell Collins announced 11-hundred workers would be laid off over the next half year as part of a restructuring plan. Chief Financial Officer Larry Erickson says they were “proactive in sizing our business to the appropriate level based on our projected revenues for fiscal 2002.”Erickson and Jones spoke in a telephone conference call that was broadcast on the Internet.