A move to more fuel-efficient airplanes helped Goodrich Corp. grow its earnings in the second quarter of 2008. Charlotte, N.C.-based Goodrich reported second-quarter 2008 net income of $187 million, or $1.46 per diluted share, on sales of $1.849 billion. Those numbers reflect a 17% increase in sales and 49% increase in net income per diluted share compared with the second quarter of 2007. Commenting on the company's performance, CEO Marshall Larsen said in a statement, "Even though many airlines have announced that they will remove some of their older airplanes from their fleets, we do not expect these removals to have a significant impact on Goodrich results in 2008. These older airplanes, primarily MD-80s and 737 Classics, represent approximately 31% of the world's fleet of large commercial aircraft, but only 8% of our large commercial aftermarket sales, or about 2% of our total sales." For the first six months of 2008, net income per diluted share is 53% higher than in the comparable period of 2007, the company said. Looking ahead, Goodrich adjusted its 2008 full-year sales expectations to approximately $7.3 billion. This compares with a prior outlook of $7.2 billion to $7.3 billion. The outlook for net income per diluted share for 2008 was increased to a range of $4.80 to $4.95 from a prior outlook of $4.30 to $4.45.
