Had Lockheed Martin matched the winning prices in three major programs it lost in recent months, it would have incurred losses of more than $5 billion, the contractor's chief executive said today.
Speaking to analysts, Marillyn Hewson said Lockheed was "disappointed at not being selected for three large competitive bids this quarter." Though she did not identify the programs, they are likely the MQ-25 unmanned tanker, Huey helicopter replacement and T-X trainer contracts, all of which were won by Boeing.
She said the company has estimated that matching Boeing's price in all three programs would have generated "cumulative losses in excess of $5 billion." Hewson said Lockheed would examine its proposal process for any "root-cause issues."
Meanwhile, Lockheed said today sales in its most recent quarter hit $14.3 billion, up 16 percent from the same three-month period a year earlier.
The contractor's quarterly profit reached nearly $1.5 billion, up about 53 percent from the prior year.
All four of the company's business units reported bolstered sales and profit.
Asked how growing tension between the United States and Saudi Arabia over the death of a U.S. resident might affect arms deals, Hewson told analysts that Lockheed's agreements are with the U.S. government.
"Most of these agreements that we have are government-to-government purchases, so anything that we do has to do with following strictly the regulations of the U.S. government," she said.
Bruce Tanner, Lockheed's chief financial officer, on the same call downplayed the role of planned sales to Saudi Arabia, noting the company has less than $500 million in sales planned in 2019.
There's "not a huge amount of dependency on the activity, even though the opportunities we've described are much larger," he said.