Third-quarter revenue and profit at rotorcraft manufacturer Bell slipped mainly because of fewer military sales. The Fort Worth-based Textron subsidiary delivered 33 commercial helicopters during the three-month period that ended September 30, a decline from 41 in the same quarter last year. Despite fewer commercial helicopter deliveries in the quarter, Bell’s deliveries for the first nine months totaled 97 units, up from 83 in the same period last year.
Revenues in the quarter came in at $769 million, a $24 million decrease from a year ago, while segment profit edged $14 million lower, to $105 million. Year-to-date revenues of $2.50 billion climbed from $2.43 billion in the same period a year ago. Backlog at the end of the quarter was $4.13 billion, lower than the $4.8 billion at the end of the second quarter.
In an earnings call with analysts yesterday, Scott Donnelly, CEO of parent company Textron, noted that Bell has submitted its proposal for the Army’s Future Attack Reconnaissance Aircraft (FARA) program, the award for which is expected in the second quarter of next year. He added that Bell is about 60 percent of the way through its build of the 360 Invictus prototype for the FARA competition and remains on schedule.