Northrop Grumman Space Technology posted sales of $842 million in the third quarter 2005, up from sales of $823 million a year ago, the company announced Oct. 25. Operating profit improved from $57 million to $67 million over the same period.

Higher sales and improved performance in the Civil Space and Intelligence, Surveillance & Reconnaissance business areas drove the gains. Civil Space revenue increased 23 percent due to higher volume from NASA and U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration programs. Intelligence, Surveillance & Reconnaissance revenue rose 6 percent due to higher volume in classified programs. The growth offset lower sales in the Missile & Space Defense and Satellite Communications areas.

Overall, Northrop Grumman Corp. reported a profit of $293 million in the third quarter 2005 on sales of $7.4 billion, which ended Sept. 30. Damage to the company’s Ship Systems facilities on the U.S. Gulf Coast caused by hurricanes hampered Northrop Grumman’s overall performance. In the third quarter 2004, Northrop Grumman reported a profit of $278 million on sales of $7.4 billion.

Northrop Grumman also announced a share repurchase program of up to $1.5 billion of the company’s common stock. As of Sept. 30, Northrop Grumman had approximately 355 million shares outstanding and expects the complete the buyback, which represents nearly 8 percent of outstanding shares, throughout the next 12 to 18 months.