United Defense profit up on Crusader payment Carlyle affiliate owned US Marine Repair? Can someone tell me how I can find out the exact date of the ok that Congress gave to the Crusader system? I swear UDI IPO'd within a day or two but I can't find where I put that info.
Thursday July 25, 9:24 AM EDT
(Recasts lede, adds comment from company spokesman)
ARLINGTON, Va., July 25 (Reuters) - United Defense Industries Inc. on Thursday said quarterly earnings rose due to a $7.2 million payment from the U.S. Army for work on the Crusader howitzer program, which the Defense Department now wants to terminate.
United Defense said second-quarter earnings rose to $27.3 million, or 52 cents per share, from $15.7 million, or 37 cents per share, last year. Revenue fell to $318 million from $347 million.
United Defense spokesman Doug Coffey said the U.S. Army payment came in the second quarter, but was for work done before the Pentagon's decision to kill the $11 billion howitzer system.
"That's a performance award for work completed prior to the decision to terminate the program," Coffey said. "It was for work that was on schedule, on budget and meeting or exceeding performance requirements."
Shares of United Defense (UDI) closed at $19.60 on Wednesday on the New York Stock Exchange. The stock, battered by the Crusader debate, fell 14 percent during the second quarter, underperforming the Standard & Poor's aerospace and defense index <.GSPAERO>, which was little changed.
The Pentagon has decided to scrap Crusader and develop more mobile weapons systems, but Congress, anxious to save jobs in districts where the Crusader was to be built, has unveiled a plan to develop new weapons based on Crusader systems.
Coffey said the company was still in discussions with lawmakers and defense officials about an early termination fee, if Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld prevails with his plan to scrap the multibillion dollar weapons system.
He said a decision was not expected until the Senate returned from its August recess.
United Defense, which is 49 percent owned by powerful venture capital firm Carlyle Group, recently bought U.S. Marine Repair, a ship repair services company, to broaden its naval product base. U.S. Marine Repair was owned by affiliates of Carlyle Group.
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