Lockheed Martin chairman Dan Tellep has underlined the newly merged group's commitment to announce decisions on consolidating the businesses "no later than" the end of June.
Presenting the group's first-quarter results, the first since the merger was formalised, Tellep calls for "reduction of excess capacity and aggressive elimination of duplication" to help boost earnings. He says that the corporation is on a "fast track" to announce rationalisation plans, likely to mean the loss of jobs within the 170,000 workforce.
Tellep said that, without the merger, Lockheed and Martin Marietta could not have avoided workforce cuts. "Our industry is about two-thirds over capacity. It is much better to have three full factories than six part-full," adds President Norm Augustine.
Headquarters operations have already been consolidated at the former Martin Marietta centre in Bethseda, Maryland.
The first-quarter results show that group sales rose by 12%, to the $5.6 billion mark. Backlog also rose, to end the quarter at a combined $42.9 billion.
Operating profits stayed roughly level, discounting the $165 million costs of the merger and gains from the flotation of Martin Marietta's materials business, which had boosted the 1994 first-quarter result.
Including these factors, however, the group turned in operating profits of $312 million, down from $525 million. Net profits ended the quarter at $137 million, against $235 million.
Source: Flight International
