Lockheed Net Jumps 33% for First Quarter; Tax Cuts Help

Lockheed Corp. said Thursday that profits rose 33% in the first quarter, largely because of cuts in the aerospace company’s federal tax bill.

Earnings from continuing operations in the quarter ended March 27 were $114 million, up from $89 million in the first quarter of 1987. Sales were $2.6 billion for the quarter, up from $2.5 billion in the same period the year before.

The new tax law gets most of the credit for the improvement, said Lawrence O. Kitchen, chairman and chief executive of the Calabasas, Calif.-based aerospace firm. The company estimates its effective tax rate for 1988 will be 24%, down from 40% in 1987, he said.

Per-share earnings also were boosted by the company’s stock buyback program, which purchased 1.4 million shares during the quarter, bringing to 4.7 million the total number of shares purchased under the stock buyback program.

Net earnings showed a slightly larger increase than earnings on continuing operations because the net earnings figure for the first quarter of 1987 included a $3-million loss on Lockheed Shipbuilding Co. in Seattle, which has been for sale for nine months.