Rockwell issues glowing earnings report

Rising oil prices notwithstanding, a glowing fiscal report was outlined this (Wednesday) morning by managers at Cedar Rapids based Rockwell Collins. President and CEO Clay Jones said commercial markets continue to recover and Rockwell’s military market remains strong. Jones says for a year that began with “cautious optimism” it ended as the most successful in the company’s history. Jones noted in a corporate webcast this morning that the company serves both military and commercial markets. Jones says its wide array of communications products has RC in an excellent position as defense priorities continue to evolve. He says the results of yesterday’s election, “Whenever we finally know what they are,” should have little impact on defense budgets as long as we have troops in Iraq and Afghanistan and the threat of worldwide terrorism continues. Chief Financial Officer Larry Erickson said fourth-quarter sales were 839-Million, up 13-percent from last year’s fourth quarter. Erickson says fiscal-year 2004 earnings per share of a dollar-67 represents a 17-percent improvement over last year’s earnings. The makers of airplane entertainment, navigation and avionics systems reported net income increased 17-percent.