Motorola Solutions 3Q profit up on gov't spending

NEW YORK (AP) ? Motorola Solutions Inc. reported a 61 percent increase in third-quarter net income, helped by higher government spending.

Motorola Solutions, which is based in Schaumburg, Ill., sells communications equipment to government and corporate customers. It said Wednesday that it earned $206 million, or 72 cents per share for the three months ended Sept. 29. That compares with $128 million, or 38 cents per share, a year ago. Last year's results were weighed down by a loss on discontinued operations.

Excluding the cost of employee stock options and one-time items, the company earned 84 cents per share. Revenue rose 3 percent to $2.15 billion from $2.09 billion.

Analysts had expected 73 cents per share on revenue of $2.15 billion, according to FactSet.

The company's revenue forecast also topped analyst expectations, and shares rose $1.54, or 3.1 percent, to $51.31 in afternoon trading.

The company said it had record sales of $1.5 billion in its division that sells to governments, with higher demand in North America. In the division that sells to businesses, sales dropped 13 percent to $632 million.

Motorola Inc. split into two in early 2011. Google snapped up one of the resulting companies, Motorola Mobility, which makes cellphones and cable set-top boxes.

Motorola Solutions expects earnings of 98 cents to $1.03 per share in the fourth quarter, with a revenue increase of 6 to 7 percent, suggesting revenue of $2.44 billion to $2.46 billion.

Analysts project profit of $1.02 per share on revenue of $2.42 billion.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/motorola-solutions-3q-profit-govt-spending-191428540--finance.html

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