CAE looks beyond flight simulators

Article Excerpt

CAE INC. $10 (Toronto symbol CAE; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 257.9 million; Market cap: $2.6 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.5; Dividend yield: 1.6%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.cae.com) makes flight simulators and runs pilot training schools. In its 2012 third quarter, which ended December 31, 2011, CAE’s revenue rose 10.3%, to $453.1 million from $410.8 million a year earlier. Demand for the company’s pilot training services continues to rise as airlines upgrade their fleets. That pushed up revenue by 13% at CAE’s civil division (which supplies 45% of the company’s overall revenue). Revenue from military clients (55% of the total) rose just 1%. That’s because ballooning government deficits are forcing many countries to hold off on equipment purchases. Even so, CAE’s defence businesses have a combined order backlog of $2.0 billion. The company’s earnings jumped 18.4% in the quarter, to $45.6 million, or $0.18 a share, from $38.5 million, or $0.15 a share. CAE recently won $90 million of contracts for seven…