Most Of It Defense Related

Two of America's biggest aerospace companies posted remarkably healthy profits in the third quarter, thanks to a surge in defense business.

Boeing's profits soard 78-percent in Q3, while Northrop-Grumman's profits went up 51-percent.

In the case of Chicago-based Boeing, 63-percent of its profits were derived from defense contracting. Still, CEO Harry Stonecipher said the company's commercial business was also on the rise. While he expects Boeing will deliver 285 aircraft this year, he believes that number will top 320 in 2005.

As far as the numerous investigations into his company's ethics, Stonecipher predicted Boeing's business with the government will be unphased.

"We don't expect any impact from them," Stonecipher said. "If anybody finds anything that needs to be cured, we will cure it. But we don't expect them to find anything."

Northrop-Grumman, which depends much more on military sales, also saw a huge jump in quarterly profits, saying all aspects of its business are surging. However, shipbuilding is what seems to be driving those huge profits.

Northrop is now in the process of buying back a big chunk of its stock, a move that's expected to be completed over the next 18 months.

FMI: www.boeing.com, www.northropgrum.com