Booz Allen reports sales boost

Booz Allen Hamilton said today sales in its most recent quarter hit nearly $1.7 billion, up 8 percent from the same three-month period a year earlier.

The contractor's quarterly profit reached $104 million, up about 48 percent from the prior year.

During a call with analysts this morning, Lloyd Howell, Booz Allen's chief financial officer, told analysts the company "couldn't be happier with the environment today."

"It's been many years since we've seen as positive an environment," he said.

Horacio Rozanski, Booz Allen's chief executive, said during the same call he expects an on-time budget might lead to more evenly spaced contracting activity throughout the fiscal year, rather than a fourth-quarter rush.

"I'm not entirely certain that it will play out exactly that way," he said. But "we're seeing good activity on awards, we're seeing good activity on proposals and we're bullish about the next few months."