McDonnell Douglas Profits Jump 18% in Year

McDonnell Douglas Corp., St. Louis, posted an 18.3% gain in net income in 1984 despite a downturn in profits in its missile and space business and the acquisition of money-losing Hughes Helicopters Inc.

The St. Louis-based aerospace firm earned $325.3 million on sales of $9.6 billion in 1984, up from profits of $274.9 million on sales of $8.1 billion the year earlier.

Operating profits in McDonnell’s combat aircraft business jumped 29.5% to $483 million despite additional costs to fix cracks discovered in the F-18 produced for the Navy.

Those costs were previously estimated to be about $25 million.

McDonnell’s missile and space business reported operating profits of $36.2 million, a 64% decline that resulted from problems in the Payload Assist Module rocket motor, which sent two satellites into wrong orbits. The Huntington Beach-based unit also had higher costs associated with contract bidding for the space station and ballistic missile defense work, a McDonnell spokesman said.

McDonnell did not break out results for Culver City-based Hughes Helicopters, but the unit had posted several decades of losses before it was acquired early in 1984.