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(Reuters) - GE Aerospace on Thursday forecast a stronger profit this year after its fourth-quarter earnings topped Wall Street estimates as persistent shortages of new aircraft drove up demand for its high-margin parts and services.
The company's shares rose 6.5% in trading before the bell after GE Aerospace also announced plans to increase its share buybacks to $7 billion in 2025 and its dividend by 30%.
Production delays at Boeing and Airbus have resulted in longer wait times for new jets. This has forced airlines to operate older, maintenance-intensive aircraft to meet demand for air travel.
That has helped companies such as GE Aerospace, which typically sells its engines to carriers at a discount and recovers the costs through lucrative contracts for parts and services over the lifespan of the product.
Profit at GE Aerospace's commercial engines and services segment rose 44% to $2.16 billion on revenue of $7.65 billion, which was up 19% from a year earlier.
The company's commercial engine division gets more than 70% of its revenue from the sale of parts and services.
However, keeping up with demand has been a challenge, in part due to supply chain constraints. Last year, the company twice slashed delivery estimates for LEAP engines, which power Airbus and Boeing narrowbody aircraft.
On Thursday, GE Aerospace said while it is aligned with the demand for its engines in 2025 and beyond, deliveries remain constrained by material availability issues.
In the December quarter, production of LEAP engines declined 5% from a year ago. GE produces the engines in a joint venture with France's Safran SA.
GE Aerospace expects 2025 profit in the range of $5.10 per share to $5.45 per share, compared with analysts' average estimates of $5.23 per share, according to data compiled by LSEG.
It reported an adjusted profit of $1.32 per share, beating analysts' average expectations of $1.04 per share.
The company's adjusted revenue for the fourth quarter ended Dec. 31 rose 16% to $9.88 billion, compared with Wall Street expectations of $9.51 billion.
(Reporting by Rajesh Kumar Singh in Chicago and Shivansh Tiwary in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D'Silva and Chizu Nomiyama)