Harris Corp. Reports Improved Revenues

In the aftermath of its acquisition of radio manufacturer Tyco International’s wireless systems unit, Harris Corp. reported increased revenues for the third quarter of fiscal 2010, and improved profits. However, the quarterly financial report shows that the company’s Public Safety and Professional Communications (PSPC) business unit contributes a tiny portion of the overall profit and revenue for the company, which is focused mostly on defense contracts. The PSPC unit is under the RF Communications division, and reported orders during the quarter of $168 million. At the end of the quarter, the company says the unit’s order backlog as $489 million. Overall, PSPC revenue for the quarter totaled $122 million, or less than 10 percent. In contrast, the tactical radio products unit posted orders of $656 million during the quarter, with a backlog of $1.1 billion. The tactical unit posted revenues of $438 million, or about four times that of PSPC. In a press release, the company noted public safety orders from Miami-Dade County for a $100 million upgrade, and for 1,100 radios from the New York State Police. Harris Corp. bought Tyco’s wireless unit in May 2009 for $615 million. Read the entire press release here.

Harris completed its purchase of the M/A-COM radio business from Tyco on May 29, 2009, and used it as the basis for its new PSPC unit. The company describes the unit as, “an established provider of mission-critical communications systems for law enforcement, fire and rescue, public service, transportation, and utilities markets.”

During the 4th-quarter of 2009, the PSPC unit revenues were reported as part of the RF Communications division, and totaled $44 million revenues.

Starting in the first quarter of 2010, Harris began reporting the PSPC revenues separately.