Morristown, NJ, Sept. 18--Honeywell International may be struggling now, but it's aspiring to 5% annual sales growth and double-digit earnings increases in the long term.
The projections were in a presentation made at an investor conference Thursday by CFO Dave Anderson, according to slides Honeywell posted on the Internet.
For this year, Anderson's presentation reconfirmed Honeywell's financial targets, although he said pensions are a drag on margins and markets are still difficult.
Honeywell's turbo business should post double-digit growth, he said.
Honeywell has made "progress on (its) specialty materials portfolio," according to the slides. This is Honeywell's smallest and least profitable business and analysts have eyed it as a candidate for divestment.
Business segment sales estimates for 2003 were slightly different from those Anderson presented in July.
In Thursday's presentation, he forecast aerospace sales at $8.8 billion, compared with $8.7 billion in the July talk to investors. Automation and control and transportation sales forecasts were also slightly adjusted, though all segments' margin forecasts were unchanged.
Anderson talked up Honeywell's strategy, including a focus on technology, long-term market trends and globalization. He also reiterated that ongoing cash generation makes Honeywell flexible.
But recently, the Morristown, NJ, maker of aerospace, automotive and other industrial products has been hurt by weak markets, the aftermath of a failed takeover by General Electric Co. and pension and asbestos costs.
