Textron financials show Cessna, Bell hitting bottom
In its fourth-quarter and year-end report for 2008, Textron– parent company of Cessna Aircraft and Bell Helicopter–forecast the economy would “continue to…

In its fourth-quarter and year-end report for 2008, Textron– parent company of Cessna Aircraft and Bell Helicopter–forecast the economy would “continue to… result in lower volumes at Cessna.” On January 21 this year, the company announced its fourth-quarter 2009 and end-of-year numbers and it appears the earlier report took an optimistic view of the future.

In its 2008 report, released in January 2009, Cessna reported fourth-quarter revenues and segment profits decreased $64 million and $90 million, respectively, compared with the fourth quarter of 2007. The report released January 28 this year for 2009 revealed that Cessna’s revenues for the fourth quarter dropped a precipitous $642 million compared with the same period in 2008, and segment profits fell by $170 million.