Boeing lifts guidance after strong second quarter

In the second quarter, operating cash was flow upped to $5bn from $3.22bn in 2016, due to strong operating performance and favourable timing of receipts, the company said.

Meanwhile, earnings per share shot up to $2.89 from just $0.37 in the second quarter of the previous year, while core earnings per share reached heights of $2.55 from a mere $0.44.

This came as revenue dipped to a total of $22.7bn from $24.755 which, according to the group, reflected planned production rates and timing of commercial and defence aircraft deliveries.

Boeing's chairman Dennis Muilenburg said a better performance was delivered in "every segment of the business, which is reflected in our strong second-quarter results and improved 2017 outlook".

Guidance for GAAP earnings per share was lifted to $11.10-11.30 from the prior $10.35-10.55, with core EPS hiked to $9.80-10.00 from the previous $9.20-9.40.

And operating cash flow is now expected to come in at $12.25bn well up on the earlier target of $10.75bn.

"Our robust cash flow enabled us to return more value to shareholders, invest in future growth and in our people, including a plan to accelerate pension funding that also reduces risk and cyclicality in our business," Muilenburg said.

The company also said it had repurchased 13.6m shares for $2.5bn, leaving the remaing $9.0bn under the current repurchase authorization, alongside $0.9bn worth of dividends, reflecting a 30% increase in dividends per share in the same period of the prior year.

Boeing said its team was focused on conducting improvements across the company: "As we look to the second half of the year, our teams are focused on accelerating productivity, quality and safety improvements across the company, while completing key development efforts and delivering better capabilities and economics to our customers".