Wednesday, July 23, 2008

Textron to take back $500M more of its stock

By Mass High Tech Staff

Textron Inc. reports it plans to speed up the pace of its stock buyback.

Providence-based Textron (NYSE: TXT) plans to repurchase $500 million worth of its common stock in the second half of the year. Since the beginning of 2008, the company has bought 3.5 million of its shares for about $190 million. Last year, the company’s board of directors had approved a buyback of 24 million shares.

The company said it saw a chance to recapture value in its shares, given what it said is its strong outlook on its aircraft and defense businesses.

Earlier this month, Wilmington-based Textron business unit Textron Defense Systems landed a $3.2 million payment from the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency for work on a laser weapons system. The project is part of the High Energy Liquid Laser Area Defense System, a DARPA project intended to develop a high-energy laser weapon small enough to be used on U.S. military aircraft.

Last year, Textron acquired United Industrial Corp., a Maryland company that made unmanned aircraft systems, aviation ground support systems and armored vehicles for the defense and aerospace industries, for $1.1 billion.

Textron, known for its aircraft brands Bell Helicopter and Cessna Aircraft, reported a 2007 net income of $917 million on revenue of $13.2 billion.