Losses at Cessna Unit Hit General Dynamics’ Net

General Dynamics reported that its income for the first quarter of 1986 was $70.1 million, $22.6 million less than in the same period of 1985, largely because of losses by its recently acquired Cessna Aircraft unit.

General Dynamics, which is based in St. Louis, reported first-quarter revenue of $2.1 billion.

Net earnings for the 1985 quarter were $92.7 million on revenue of $1.9 billion, the company said.

The 1985 quarterly results included earnings of $9.1 million from discontinued operations, the company said.

In a news release, the company said that Cessna, based in Wichita, Kan., reported a net loss of $17.3 million for the first quarter of 1986.

The loss included $7.6 million in interest and other charges associated with the acquisition, General Dynamics said.

General Dynamics acquired Cessna in a $680-million deal that was delayed when the Navy suspended new government contracts with all divisions of General Dynamics in December, 1985.

General Dynamics said its funded backlog at the end of the 1986 quarter was $17 billion, compared to $15.4 billion in the same period in 1985.

Funded and unfunded backlog for the current quarter totaled $23.5 billion, the company said, compared to $22.4 billion at the same time last year.

“The first quarter of 1986 saw continuing strong performance by three of our major defense business segments,” General Dynamics Chairman Stanley Pace said.

“The military aircraft, missiles and gun systems and submarine operations all reported earnings improvements over the first quarter of last year,” he added.