DynCorp quarterly earnings drop 8 percent

FALLS CHURCH, Va. - Government contractor DynCorp International Inc. said its fiscal second-quarter earnings dropped 8 percent, pushed down by a write-off and contract losses on construction work in Afghanistan.

DynCorp reported earnings after the closing bell Wednesday of $12.9 million, or 23 cents per share, down from $13.9 million, or 24 cents per share, a year ago.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters were expecting earnings of 25 cents per share.

Revenue rose 57 percent to $779.2 million, topping Wall Street expectations of $707.9 million.

DynCorp said the higher revenue was driven by contracts that include security services in Iraq, sales of mine-resistant vehicles for the military and training for the Afghan military.

Net income was hurt by a 5 cent per share write-off of deferred financing costs and a 27 cent per share from estimated contract losses on the Afghanistan construction work.

DynCorp held its guidance for the year ending April 3 to between $1.15 to $1.25 per share. The company raised its revenue forecast by $125 million, to between $2.95 billion and $3.05 billion.

Its shares rose 68 cents, or 5.6 percent, to $12.90 in Thursday afternoon trading.

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