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Hawker Beechcraft Corp. (HBC) accomplished a substantial financial turnaround during the second quarter, reporting an operating profit of $86.4 million for the period, compared with a loss of $36.6 million in the second quarter a year ago.

HBC had sales of $1.02 billion for the three months ended June 29, a jump of $327.6 million over the same period a year earlier. New aircraft bookings for the quarter totaled $1.7 billion, reflecting the continued strength of the worldwide market for new business jets. The strong order intake during the quarter pushed HBC's total backlog to a record $7.4 billion at the end of June. The introduction of the Hawker 750 and 900 models, along with growing orders for the new 4000, has seen the company's backlog soar from $2.7 billion in mid-2006 to $5.1 billion a year ago.

The Wichita, Kan. manufacturer delivered 129 business and general aviation aircraft during the second quarter: 50 jets, 50 turboprops and 29 pistons. The quarter also marked the first customer delivery of a Hawker 4000, the company's composite-fuselage, top-of-the-line model that had been in development for more than a decade (BA, June 23/287).

HBC said the big turnaround in operating income was attributable to increased aircraft deliveries, sales growth in the customer support segment and "$59.9 million in non-cash and non-recurring charges incurred during the second quarter of 2007 in accordance with purchase accounting as a result of the acquisition of the business from Raytheon Company." Partially offsetting those gains "was a $16.3 million charge associated with specific early-production Hawker 4000 units" recorded during the second quarter. That charge "resulted from an increase in the cost to conform the early aircraft to the final type design and higher than expected initial production costs," the company said.

Operating cash flow consumed during the quarter was $59.2 million. "The ramp-up in production rates along with the typical timing difference between aircraft deliveries and a more linear aircraft production schedule through the year resulted in the operating cash consumption during this period," the company said.

"The strong global demand for Hawker Beechcraft aircraft and services is evidenced by our fifth consecutive quarter of record-setting backlog," said Jim Schuster, chairman and CEO. "Our investment expanding our worldwide footprint with people and facilities is paying off."