United Technologies Sees ’18 Profit, Sales Gain on Global Growth

(Bloomberg) -- United Technologies Corp. expects a profit increase this year, giving the manufacturer a boost as it prepares to broaden its aerospace footprint with the purchase of Rockwell Collins Inc.

The maker of elevators and airplane propellers is counting on results from investments across its business lines as it moves beyond recent challenges that have included headwinds in China and unfavorable exchange rates. The Pratt & Whitney unit has been boosting output of a critical new jet engine known as the geared turbofan.

Adjusted earnings this year will be $6.85 to $7.10 a share, the company said Wednesday in a statement. Analysts anticipated $7.38 a share, according to the average of estimates compiled by Bloomberg. Adjusted per share profit for 2017 was $6.65.

United Technologies rose less than 1 percent to $137 ahead of regular trading in New York. The shares advanced 6.6 percent this year through Tuesday, compared with a 5.3 percent gain of a Standard & Poor’s index of industrial companies.

The Farmington, Connecticut-based manufacturer is boosting its bet on aerospace after reaching a deal last year to buy Rockwell Collins for $23 billion, one of the industry’s largest-ever acquisitions. The combined company will offer a broad suite of products, from Rockwell’s cockpit displays to Pratt & Whitney’s engines.

The acquisition, projected to close this year, would better position United Technologies to withstand efforts by Boeing Co. and Airbus SE to pressure suppliers for discounts.

Fourth-quarter adjusted profit rose to $1.60 a share, the company said in the statement. Analysts had expected $1.57 a share, according to estimates. Sales climbed 7 percent to $15.7 billion compared with the $15.4 billion expected by analysts.

To contact the reporter on this story: Richard Clough in New York at rclough9@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Brendan Case at bcase4@bloomberg.net, Susan Warren

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