Headquarters Sale Boosts Northrop Income

Northrop Corp. earned $96 million on sales of $1.2 billion in the first quarter, an increase in profit that was mostly attributable to the sale of its headquarters building, the firm said Wednesday.

The aerospace company posted a $67.1-million after-tax gain on the sale of the complex in the first quarter. In addition, Northrop said net income was increased by $10.7 million pretax by investment earnings from the firm’s pension fund. Under accounting rules, a company must post as earnings certain excess investment income from an over-funded pension fund, which applies to Northrop, a spokesman said.

Excluding that benefit and the gain from the building sale, Northrop still increased its profits over the anemic $9.7 million it reported in last year’s first quarter, when the firm took a $26-million charge against profits on an electronics program.

The company also noted that it reduced it debt to $881 million on March 31 from $1.13 billion.