Lockheed Profit Up 12.7% During Quarter

Aerospace and defense electronics conglomerate Lockheed Corp. reported that its third-quarter and nine-month profits rose by 12.7% and 9.2%, respectively.

But Lockheed said it expects its trend of profit increases to reverse in the current quarter because of the elimination of some investment tax credits under the new tax law and because of the cost of acquiring Sanders Associates of Nashua, N.H. Lockheed bought Sanders in August for $1.18 billion.

For the three months ended Sept. 28, Lockheed posted net income of $115 million on revenue of $2.61 billion, compared to the year-earlier period, when it earned $102 million on revenue of $2.46 billion.

Sanders contributed $103 million in revenue during the two months it was part of Lockheed in the third quarter, but it made only a modest contribution to profits, largely because of increased interest expense on funds borrowed to finance the acquisition.

Lockheed’s interest expense rose to $18 million in the latest quarter from $13 million a year earlier. Lockheed’s debt as of Sept. 28 was $1.44 billion, compared to $633 million at year-end 1985.