US-based defence contractor General Dynamics (GD) has reported a 3.1% increase in net earnings in the third quarter of 2021.
The company’s net earnings totalled $860m in the three-month period that ended on 3 October 2021. In Q3 2020, the figure was $834m.
Diluted earnings per share (EPS) was $3.07, up 5.9% from $2.90 reported in the year-ago quarter.
GD’s quarterly revenues also recorded growth, increasing by 1.5% year-on-year to $9.57bn.
At the end of Q3 2021, the company’s order backlog stood at $88.1bn, an increase of 8.1% from the prior-year quarter.
Among its four business segments, Aerospace and Marine Systems reported a 4.6% and 9.6% increase in quarterly revenues to $2.06bn and $2.64bn respectively.
Orders in the Aerospace segment were also strong with backlog jumping by 22.8% on a year-on-year basis to $14.7bn.
Meanwhile, revenues at the other two units, Combat Systems and Technologies, fell by 3.1% and 4% respectively.
GD chairman and CEO Phebe Novakovic said: “The company delivered solid third-quarter results, generating very strong cash flow and attractive margins.
“We continue to focus on delivering solid programme performance and ensuring the well-being of our people, who are rising above the challenges of the pandemic to support our customers.”
Some of the key defence contracts received by GD in the quarter include a $475m US Navy order to provide ongoing lead yard services for the Columbia-class submarine programme.
The company also won a $195m order from the US Navy for engineering, technical, design and planning yard support services for operational strategic and attack submarines and a $165m order to deliver munitions, ordnance and missile subcomponents for the US Army among others.
In the second quarter of the year, GD recorded a 17.9% jump in net earnings.
