[Avionics Today 10-20-2015] United Technologies Corp. (UTC), which recently announced the $9 billion sale of its Sikorsky Helicopters unit to Lockheed Martin, reported third quarter 2015 results with a six percent decline in sales when compared to 2014 earnings.
"United Technologies is executing the strategic plan set forth earlier this year and is focused on maximizing the performance of our core building and aerospace systems businesses under a flatter and more transparent organizational structure," said UTC President and CEO Gregory Hayes. "We are on track to deliver results within our previous guidance ranges for full-year [Earnings Per Share] EPS of $6.15 to $6.30 and sales between $57 and $58 billion."
UTC expects the previously announced sale of its Sikorsky unit to close in the fourth quarter of 2015. The board of directors has authorized a new $12 billion share repurchase program, including the $6 billion accelerated share repurchase using the net proceeds from the Sikorsky sale.
"United Technologies’ shares are an attractive investment opportunity which we are going to take advantage of in order to increase value for our shareholders," said Hayes. "Including the $4 billion in repurchases made to date in 2015, we now expect to complete $16 billion of share repurchases through 2017."