Israeli defence firm Elbit Systems Q1 profit, revenue up

TEL AVIV, May 26 (Reuters) - Israeli defence electronics firm Elbit Systems reported higher quarterly profit and said it has not been substantially impacted by the coronavirus outbreak.

The maker of drones, pilot helmet displays and cyber security systems said on Tuesday it earned $1.63 per diluted share excluding one-time items in the first quarter, up from $1.54 a year earlier. Revenue rose to $1.07 billion from $1.02 billion.

Elbit said its business during the first quarter was not materially impacted by the pandemic.

"Subsequently, some of our businesses have begun to experience certain disruptions due to government directed safety measures, travel restrictions and supply chain delays," the company said. "To date, the financial impact to us of these disruptions has not been material."

In November 2018, Elbit bought weapons maker IMI from Israel's government for $500 million. In September 2019 it bought the night vision business of L3Harris Technologies for $350 million.

Elbit's order backlog climbed to $10.79 billion at the end of the quarter from $9.66 billion a year earlier.

Elbit said it will record a pretax gain of $40 million in the second quarter from the sale of part of its shares in Cyberbit and from a sale and leaseback real estate deal.

The company declared a dividend of 35 cents per share for the first quarter, down from 44 cents a year earlier. (Reporting by Tova Cohen; Editing by Ari Rabinovitch)