Rockwell Collins earnings drop 20 percent

Rockwell Collins started its 2010 fiscal year with a 20 percent drop in quarterly earnings.

Chairman and CEO Clay Jones said the global recession and delays in passage of the government's 2010 Defense Appropriations bill affected first-quarter profits for the company, which has a large operation in Cedar Rapids.

The aviation electronics company reported net income of $121 million, a decrease of $30 million for the first quarter of fiscal 2009.

On a per-share basis, Rockwell Collins earned 76 cents, down from 95 cents in the first quarter of fiscal 2009.

Sales decreased 3 percent, to $1.027 billion, but the “organic revenue” from operations before the recent acquisitions of DataPath Inc. and SEOS Group Ltd. declined $100 million. The new operations contributed $69 million in revenue growth.

Sales to business jet manufacturers and aftermarket sales to the commercial aerospace market remained weak, and sales of Defense Advanced GPS Receivers declined.