Government contracts help push Motorola 3Q sales up 3 percent

Schaumburg-based Motorola Solutions said its third-quarter 2012 sales were $2.2 billion, up 3 percent from the same period last year and driven by strong demand in its government segment.

“We had strong revenue and earnings growth, including record performance in our government segment,” said Motorola Solutions Chairman and CEO Greg Brown. “We expanded operating margins, managed our costs and grew earnings per share 27 percent driven by our operating performance and continued return of capital to shareholders.”

Government segment sales were $1.5 billion, up 12 percent from a year ago, driven by double-digit growth in North America and solid performance its global markets, the company said. Operating earnings were $273 million, or 17.9 percent of sales compared to $186 million or 13.7 percent in the year-ago quarter.

Enterprise segment sales to commercial customers were $632 million, down 13 percent from last year, the company said. Operating earnings were $51 million, or 8.1 percent of sales, compared to $68 million or 9.4 percent in the year-ago quarter.

Overall operating earnings in the third quarter of 2012 were $324 million, or 15 percent of sales, compared to $254 million or 12.2 percent of sales in the third quarter of 2011. The company generated $182 million in operating cash flow from continuing operations, which including an early pension payment of $72 million.