(By Balaseshan) Esterline Technologies Corp. (NYSE:ESL), a maker of engineered systems for aerospace and defense markets, reported a decline in second quarter earnings due to higher costs. Revenue missed Street's expectations. The company narrowed fiscal 2012 earnings guidance below Street's view, sending its shares down 0.84% in aftermarket.
Earnings from continuing operations for the second quarter were $45.41 million or $1.44 per share, down from $45.95 million or $1.47 per share last year.
The latest quarter results included $0.15 per share of total discrete items such as litigation settlement, customer bankruptcy and contract assertions. Excluding discrete items, earnings for the latest quarter would have been $1.29 per share.
Sales increased to $504.83 million from $435.28 million. Analysts had expected a profit of $1.29 per share on revenue of $510.96 million.
Avionics & Controls sales fell to $195.03 million from $231.53 million, while Sensors & Systems sales grew to $184.68 million from $85.18 million. Advanced Materials sales increased to $125.12 million from $118.56 million.
New orders for the second quarter were $566.0 million, up from $462.9 million last year. Backlog increased to $1.31 billion from $1.16 billion at the end of the prior-year period.
Looking ahead into the fiscal 2012, the company narrowed its earnings guidance to range of $5.10 to $5.25 per share from previous forecast of $5.10 to $5.40 per share, while Street analysts predict $5.27 per share.
The company said it narrowed earnings guidance due to the uncertainty of the timing of key shipments -- including foreign countermeasures, military headsets, and avionics programs.
ESL closed Thursday's regular session down 1.37% at $64.59. The stock has been trading between $47.48 and $82.28 for the past 52 weeks.