Investor Relations

So after giving all you viewers the overall synopsis on Raytheon’s “Community Relations” program, today topic will focus on “Investor Relations” at Raytheon.

As I was looking through the 2007 annual report (2008 should be up soon), I noticed that in the 104 page report that they posted on their corporate website, the beginning of the report was more of a slick marketing piece making it easy for anyone to read but once it got into the budget, revenue reports, its annual SEC 10-K filings etc… it got too economical on me and therefore I had a little bit of a difficult time understanding how they manage their money. The goal of Raytheon’s annual report was focusing on key strategic pursuits, Technology and Mission Assurance to protect and grow their position in their four core defense markets: Sensing, Effects, C3I (Command, Control, Communications and Intelligence) and Mission Support. Also, to leverage their domain knowledge in these core defense markets, as well as in Mission Systems Integration, Homeland Security and Information Assurance/Information Operations. Finally, to expand their international business by increasing defense sales, seeking adjacent opportunities and be a customer focused company based on performance, relationships and solutions.

In the latest letter to the shareholders in the 2007 annual report, the messages that CEO William Swanson sends to his shareholders are that they increased sales by 8% as well as operating income by 20%. Also, a number of new technologies were created including the “see-through-wall” which is a mechanism that provides soldiers with situational awareness inside a building. Finally, Swanson stresses the fact at the end that customer satisfaction is their number one mission and he wants his company “to be the most admired defense and aerospace systems supplier through world-class people and technology.” Here, I feel that based on Swanson’s believable facts and his glowing and positive view on the company, investors will have more faith in their shares in Raytheon because it seems as though they have had nothing but success in the past up all the way through today. Lastly, as I began to read the company’s latest news release on its earnings (January, 2009), I simply just stopped reading after the first few pages because of the technical language used that I could not understand. However, CEO Swanson stated in the release, “Raytheon had a successful 2008 with strong bookings, a record backlog and solid growth in sales and operating income, Our advanced technologies, program performance and diverse portfolio of products and services are uniquely suited to meet customer requirements and position us well for the future.” This statement said by Swanson is well-written, believable and absolutely creditable. It shows his sincerity to the company and plus it instills confidence within its investors.

So, I hope my explanation of Raytheon’s “Investor Relations” gives everyone a better idea on how the company earns and manages their money and what shareholders and investors are looking for within a company. Unfortunately, my next week’s entry will be my last and it will focus on “Corporate Crisis” and how the PR people at Raytheon handle this kind of situations. Sayonara!

Raytheon's Leadership Team