Boeing Co. reported a 26.7% increase in...

Boeing Co. reported a 26.7% increase in fourth-quarter earnings, which were bolstered by strong commercial jet sales and a long-sought profit in its defense business.

For the quarter, Boeing had record profit of $403 million, or $1.17 a share, on sales of $7.75 billion. In the same period the year before, the company had net earnings of $318 million, or 92 cents a share, on sales of $7.02 billion.

For the year, Boeing had profit of $1.57 billion, or $4.56 a share, up 13% from $1.39 billion, or $4.01 a share, in 1990. Sales rose from $27.6 billion to $29.31 billion.

Boeing’s backlog of unfilled orders totaled $97.9 billion at the end of 1991, up slightly from $97.2 billion a year earlier. Of the 1991 total, 95% was for commercial customers.

Frank Shrontz, Boeing chairman and chief executive, said the company lost $102 million in its defense and space segments. But the defense and space business made money in the fourth quarter. He did not say how much.

Defense and space has long been a worry at Seattle-based Boeing, the company losing $418 million on them in 1990 and $474 million the year before.

Shrontz said the turnaround was because of better technical, cost and schedule performance. The company also benefited from consolidating some operations and scrapping some fixed-price development contracts.

Despite the recession and the dismal state of many airlines, Boeing delivered 421 commercial jets and 59 commuter planes worth $23 billion in 1991. That compares to 381 jets and 64 commuter planes worth $21.2 billion a year earlier.