Israel's Elbit Systems Q1 profit dips, revenue up

(Reuters) - Israeli defence electronics firm Elbit Systems on Tuesday reported lower first-quarter profit, attributing the drop to stock price-linked compensation plans, while revenue rose.

The company earned $1.19 per diluted share in the quarter compared to $1.64 per share the previous year. Revenue climbed to $1.35 billion from $1.12 billion.

The company's board declared a dividend of $0.50 per share for the first quarter to be paid on July 11.

Elbit had warned earlier in the year that a recent increase in its share price could significantly impact expenses due to stock price-linked compensation plans for employees. It said profits were reduced by $0.72 per share due to those payments.

Excluding one-time items, Elbit earned $1.22 per diluted share in the first quarter, versus $1.72 a year earlier.

Elbit's Tel Aviv-listed shares are up 36% this year.

Elbit said its backlog of orders reached $13.7 billion at the end of March, similar to the previous quarter. About 72% of that comes from orders outside Israel, and some 55% is due to be performed in 2022 and 2023.

(Reporting by Ari Rabinovitch; Editing by Steven Scheer)