Boeing reports surge in 4th-qtr profit, sees cash boost in 2015

By Alwyn Scott and Sweta Singh

REUTERS - Boeing Co reported a 23 percent rise in core quarterly profit on Wednesday, topping analysts' estimates and sending its shares up 3.4 percent.

The company also delivered $4.3 billion in free cash flow in the fourth quarter, about 65 percent of the annual total.

Boeing reported strong year-end performances across its defense and commercial aircraft businesses, including progress on curbing production costs for the flagship 787 Dreamliner.

For 2015, the world's biggest plane maker forecast core earnings, excluding pension and other costs, of between $8.20 and $8.40 a share, below the average analyst estimate of $8.64. Analysts expected a weaker profit outlook because of tax items that boosted 2014 results.

Net profit rose to $1.47 billion, or $2.02 per share, in the quarter from $1.23 billion, or $1.61 per share, a year earlier.

Core earnings increased to $2.31 per share from $1.88. The latest result beat the $2.11 average that analysts expected, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Boeing's deferred production cost balance for the Dreamliner program rose to $26.1 billion at year end from $25.2 billion in the third quarter. The figure represents the costs of making 787s, averaged over the first 1,300 aircraft that are deferred from its income statement.

Boeing forecast that it will deliver at least $6.2 billion in free cash flow this year, which would be a 43 percent increase from 2014.

Analysts are looking for at least $5 billion in free cash flow in 2015, suggesting that losses on the Dreamliner are easing as the company grows more adept at building the high-tech plane, and increases production.

The company added $12 billion worth of orders to its total production backlog in the quarter, pushing the backlog to $502 billion from $490 billion at the end of the third quarter.

As announced earlier, jetliner deliveries rose to 723 in 2014 from 648 in the previous year, topping those by rival Airbus Group.

For 2015, Boeing said it will deliver 750 to 755 jetliners.

Boeing shares jumped $4.52 to $137.

(Reporting by Sweta Singh in Bengaluru and Alwyn Scott in New York; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila, Kirti Pandey and Jeffrey Benkoe)