Top-Performing Companies Receive AVIATION WEEK Awards at Farnborough Airshow

FARNBOROUGH, England, July 21 /PRNewswire/ -- AVIATION WEEK's 15th annual Top-Performing Companies (TPC) study, the aerospace and defense (A&D) industry's leading annual rankings and competitive analysis, identified Lockheed Martin, Precision Castparts, and FLIR Systems as the top companies for 2010 for the second year in a row. Company executives convened today in the AVIATION WEEK Chalet at the Farnborough Airshow to receive their awards.

Each of the top companies is the leader in its category, based on A&D revenue for the 2009-10 fiscal year:

• Ranked no. 1 in the "Revenue Greater Than $20 Billion" group, Lockheed Martin's strong performances in return on invested capital and asset management helped it claim this top ranking for the third year in a row.
• In the "$5-20 Billion" category, Precision Castparts was able to raise its operating margins to nearly 26% despite a 17% sales decline.
• In the "$1-5 Billion" category, FLIR Systems has not been hampered by its rapid growth. FLIR's revenue growth slowed to 6% after a 38% burst the prior year, but operating earnings were up 22%.

"In a year when fears of a financial meltdown gripped the world, the global aerospace and defense industry held its own," said Joseph C. Anselmo, Senior Business Editor, AVIATION WEEK. "The results of the TPC study reveal an industry that, at the operational level, was much better prepared for the storm than in past downturns. With a few exceptions — most notably the business jet sector — it was the crash that never came."

Launched in 1996, AVIATION WEEK's highly regarded Top-Performing Companies study identifies relative strengths and weaknesses in A&D companies' operational performance and evaluates how well they are executing business strategies. Proprietary metrics have been refined over the past 14 years with input from industry leaders to include scores in four equally weighted performance categories: return on invested capital, earnings momentum, asset management, and financial health. The data and rankings are a frequently cited industry baseline for determining which companies are likely to flourish and those that are still vulnerable.

To read the articles and for complete rankings on the companies in this year's study, go to the TPC website at AviationWeek.com/TPC, sponsored by PricewaterhouseCoopers. For more information on TPC in general, view the on-demand webinar at http://video.webcasts.com/events/pmny001/viewer/index.jsp?eventid=34865. A companion online analytics tool, the TPC Benchmarking Tool, is also available to enterprise subscribers and allows companies to regularly monitor performance and set competitive goals. Farnborough attendees can also visit AVIATION WEEK in Hall 1, Stand D13 or the ShowNews Office in Chalet A20.

About AVIATION WEEK:

AVIATION WEEK, part of The McGraw-Hill Companies, is the largest multimedia information and services provider to the global aviation, aerospace and defense industries, and includes http://AviationWeek.com, Aviation Week & Space Technology, Defense Technology International, Business & Commercial Aviation, Overhaul & Maintenance, ShowNews, Aviation Daily, Aerospace Daily & Defense Report, The Weekly of Business Aviation, World Aerospace Database, AVIATION WEEK Intelligence Network, and MRO Prospector. The group also produces major events around the world.

About The McGraw-Hill Companies:

Founded in 1888, The McGraw-Hill Companies (NYSE: MHP) is a global information and education company providing knowledge, insights and analysis in the financial, education and business information sectors through leading brands including Standard & Poor's, McGraw-Hill Education, Platts, and J.D. Power and Associates. The Corporation has more than 280 offices in 40 countries. Sales in 2009 were $5.95 billion. Additional information is available at http://www.mcgraw-hill.com/.

SOURCE AVIATION WEEK