Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) is “monitoring” the impact from the now-concluded strike by Boeing machinists, as it maintains its earnings outlook for its aircraft, defence and space business unit.
The Japanese firm is a key player in Boeing’s widebody programmes, including the 777X, which has seen its timeline further delayed to 2026, and the 787 programme.
MHI, in its half-year earnings, does not provide further comment on the machinists’ strikes, which lasted over 50 days before ending on 5 November after the union voted to ratify a new pay package.
For now, the company has maintained its full-year operating profit target for the business unit, as well as its revenue and order intake for the year ending 31 March 2025.
The unit saw a 60% jump in operating profit to Y44 billion ($285 million) for the six months to 30 September, on the back of a 35% increase in revenue to Y432 billion.
MHI says its defence and space business saw an uptick in revenue and profit due to growth in missile systems work.
“Higher unit deliveries and positive impact from the depreciation of the Japanese Yen in the commercial aircraft business also served to increase revenue,” MHI adds.
However, the unit’s order intake fell against the year-ago period, where MHI notched record orders for projects related to stand-off defence capabilities.
Meanwhile, MHI’s aero engines business saw improvement in its half-year revenue and profit, amid a rebound from “one-time expenses” relating to technical issues on the Pratt & Whitney’s PW1100G. For the half-year, the aero engines business saw its operating profit increase nearly 43% to Y101 billion.
MHI is one of the five partners in the PW1100G programme, together with P&W, MTU in Germany, and two other Japanese companies – IHI and Kawasaki Heavy Industries.
