The Boeing Company, which has been struggling with costly delays on two airplane programs, reported a larger third-quarter loss on Wednesday than analysts had expected and lowered its full-year profit forecast.
But the company said it still expected to begin flight tests of its 787 passenger jet, known as the Dreamliner, before the end of the year. And it could decide within the next two weeks whether to build a second production line for the plane at its plant in Everett, Wash., or in North Charleston, S.C.
Boeing’s net loss totaled $1.56 billion, or $2.23 a share, for the third quarter. That included $3.5 billion in previously announced charges to cover problems with the 787, the first commercial plane made mainly with lightweight carbon composites, and with the 747-8, a new freighter plane.
Analysts had estimated, on average, that the company would post a net loss of $2.10 a share.
The difference in that estimate and Boeing’s reported profit probably reflects 14 cents a share in additional costs, disclosed Wednesday, involving the first three 787s. Those planes have undergone so many changes that Boeing will not be able to sell them commercially.
The loss was in contrast to a profit of $695 million, or 96 cents a share, in the quarter a year ago, which was affected by a machinist strike. Boeing reduced its guidance for its full-year earnings to $1.35 to $1.55 a share from its earlier level of $4.70 to $5 a share.
Boeing’s chief executive, W. James McNerney Jr., told analysts that the rest of its commercial airplane business and its military division were holding up reasonably well in a difficult market.
Despite nearly two years of design and production delays, he said, the company still has 840 orders for the Dreamliner, just 10 fewer than during the second quarter.
The plane is crucial to the company’s future and could give it an edge over Airbus, which is not expected to complete its first composite plane until 2013.
Mr. McNerney said the company expected to decide over the next couple of weeks where to locate a second line as it gears up production of the plane.
Mr. McNerney said that building it in South Carolina, where Boeing does preassembly work on the 787, could help the company diversify its labor base and avoid the possibility of more costly labor strikes. “I’ve got to figure out a way to minimize that risk to the company,” he said.
Political leaders in Washington State, where Boeing builds most of its planes, have been urging the company to expand its line there. Boeing has been seeking a no-strike agreement from the machinists’ union there.
Boeing’s shares closed down $1.26, or 2.4 percent, at $50.63.
