Rockwell Collins Inc. has reported net income for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2009 of $594 million, a decrease of $84 million, or 12% from fiscal year 2008 net income of $678 million. Earnings per share decreased 10% to $3.73 compared to earnings per share of $4.16 a year ago.

Fiscal year 2009 revenues decreased approximately $300 million, or 6%, to $4.47 billion compared to revenues of $4.77 billion last year. Fiscal year 2009 total segment operating margin was 21.4%compared to 21.9% last year.

For the fiscal year 2009 fourth quarter, net income decreased $48 million, or 26%, to $134 million from $182 million last year. Earnings per share declined 29 cents, or 26%, to $0.84 compared to earnings per share of $1.13 for the same period a year ago. Results for the fourth quarter of 2009 include a charge of $21 million ($14 million after-tax, or 9 cents per share) primarily related to the closing of the company's San Jose, California facility, asset impairments and other restructuring activities. Results for the fourth quarter of 2008 include a benefit related to a retroactive catch up for the renewal of the Federal R&D Tax Credit, which, net of related incentive compensation cost, increased earnings per share by about 8 cents. Excluding the impact of these items, earnings per share would have declined 11%, from $1.05 in the fourth quarter of 2008 to $0.93 in the fourth quarter of 2009. Revenues in the quarter decreased $87 million, or 7%, to $1.19 billion from revenues of $1.28 billion last year.

"During a year defined by significant challenges in the commercial aerospace environment, our company continued to benefit from its structural balance and diversification. Although our Commercial Systems business suffered from a decline in revenues and profitability due to market circumstances beyond our control, we were able to partially offset these impacts through the strength of our Government Systems business which realized record levels of sales and profitability," said Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer, Clay Jones.

"The benefits of this balance, as well as our focus on maximizing the efficiency of our operations, led to the company generating a record level of operating cash flow during 2009. This strong operating cash flow enabled us to continue investments in both acquisition and organic growth opportunities. Despite continued economic uncertainty," continued Jones, "we are beginning to see signs of stabilization in our commercial markets. We believe conditions will improve sequentially through 2010, and expect the first fiscal quarter will be the low water mark of this cycle."