Defense contractor SAIC Inc. said Tuesday that first-quarter profit grew 25 percent as revenue soared on U.S. military spending.The company said its strong results and contract wins — along with share repurchases — will allow it to achieve its goal of growing per-share earnings 11 percent to 18 percent this year. Less than three months ago, the company warned that it might miss that mark. "Our support in Iraq (web|news), Kuwait and Afghanistan is increasing," said Ken Dahlberg, SAIC's chairman and chief executive officer.

SAIC singled out its logistics work on mine-resistant armored vehicles for fueling growth.

The company's profit and revenue beat Wall Street expectations. It earned $100 million, or 24 cents a share, during the three-month period that ended April 30, compared with a profit $80 million, or 19 cents a share, in the same period last year.



Excluding a small loss from discontinued operations, SAIC earned 25 cents a share last quarter, 3 cents more than the average estimate among analysts polled by Thomson Financial.

SAIC's revenues grew 18 percent to $2.37 billion from $2.01 billion. Analysts expected revenue of $2.26 billion.

The results were released after markets closed. The company's shares rose 4 cents to end regular trading at $19.85, then surged 85 cents, or 4.3 percent, in after-hours trading.

SAIC, also known as Science Applications International, performs some of the federal government's most sensitive national security work.

The company signed $2.5 billion in contracts during the first quarter but Dahlberg said "publicity restrictions" prohibited him from discussing the biggest wins.

Dahlberg said the company was struggling to win business from nongovernment customers.

"Our commercial business is fairly stagnant," he told analysts on a conference call. "It is not generating the kinds of returns we expect."

Email To A Friend