L3Harris Sees Boost In FY 2020 from Post-Merger Gains

L3Harris corporate headquarters in Melbourne, Florida. Photo: L3Harris

L3Haris Space and Airborne Systems and Communications System segments drove revenue increase for the company in 2020, along with Integrated Mission Systems, while Aviation Systems experienced a decline due to COVID-19 impacts. 

Space and Airborne Systems reported $1.3 billion in revenue for the Fourth Quarter (Q4), a 4.3% increase over the same time period in 2019. The company attributed this increase to a ramp on the F-35 platform in Mission Avionics, and growth in Space from recent program wins. The company highlighted several key awards for Space during the quarter, including contracts totaling more than $100 million to deliver imaging payloads for classified customers and a $137 million award to provide four fully-digital navigation payloads to be integrated into GPS III follow-on space vehicles 13 to 16.

For the full year, Space and Airborne Systems reported $4.9 billion in revenue, up 14% from 2019, primarily due to the post-merger inclusion of L3 operations in the results. The Harris Corporation and L3 Technologies merger closed on June 29, 2019.

The Communications Systems segment also saw a Q4 increase in sales, reporting $1.1 billion in sales, a 2% increase over Q4 2019. For 2020, the segment reported $4.4 billion in sales, a 33% increase over 2019 due to the post-merger inclusion of L3 operations in results. The Communications Segment highlighted a five-year $88 million Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contract to deliver its Panther II Very Small Aperture Terminals (VSAT) to the U.S. Marine Corps, with an initial $21 million order. 

Overall, L3Harris reported $4.7 billion in revenue for the quarter, down 3.6% compared to the same time period in 2019. Full-year revenue, however, increased 42% compared to the prior year, which the company attributed to the post-merger inclusion of L3 operations in results. This was partially offset by divestitures and COVID-related impacts on commercial sales. 

Chairman and CEO William Brown said in a news release called the company’s performance in 2020 “solid,” and said the company exceed initial 2020 guidance for margins, EPS and free cash flow. 

“We’re clearly making progress in building a high-performance, technology-focused operating company and positioning L3Harris as a full end-to-end mission solutions prime. In 2021, we’ll build on our momentum as we remain focused on meeting employee, customer and shareholder commitments,” Brown said. 

L3Harris issued guidance for 2021, targeting revenue growth of 3% to 5%, and revenue between $18.5 billion to $18.9 billion.