Spirit Aero revenue rises 10 percent as aircraft demand grows

(Reuters) - Spirit Aerosystems Holdings Inc , a major supplier of aircraft components to Boeing Co and Airbus , reported a 10 percent rise in quarterly revenue due to strong demand for large commercial aircraft.

Shares of the company, which makes fuselages, wings and propulsion systems for aircraft, were up 9 percent in opening trading on Friday.

Airbus and Boeing expect aircraft demand to double to more than $2 trillion over the next 20 years, as emerging markets drive passenger growth and airlines in developed markets look to replace ageing fleet with more fuel-efficient planes.

However, cost overruns have hurt Spirit's profitability in recent years and the company announced staff reductions this year and resorted to hourly hiring to cut costs.

Spirit reported a net profit of $93.7 million, or 65 per share, for the third quarter ended September 26, compared with a loss of $134.4 million, or 94 cents, a year earlier.

"We had a productive quarter as we reduced costs and remained on track for our rate increases," Chief Executive Larry Lawson said.

Spirit, which makes critical parts for popular planes such as the Boeing 737 and Airbus A320, said revenue rose to $1.50 billion in the quarter from $1.36 billion a year earlier.

Analysts on average expected earnings of 60 cents per share on revenue of $1.5 billion, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Backlog rose to $38 billion at the end of the third quarter from $34 billion a year ago.

The company's shares were up at $29.13 on the New York Stock Exchange.

(Reporting by Rohit T. K. in Bangalore; Editing by Kirti Pandey)