Israel's Elbit Systems Q2 profit dips, warns on compensation plans

JERUSALEM, Aug 16 (Reuters) - Israeli defence electronics firm Elbit Systems on Tuesday reported lower second-quarter profit and said it could keep seeing higher expenses due to stock price-linked compensation plans.

The company earned $1.73 per diluted share excluding one-time items in the quarter compared to $2.11 per share the previous year. Revenue was up marginally to $1.303 billion from $1.302 billion.

Elbit was forecast to post revenue $1.336 billion and earnings of $2.09 per share, according to Refinitiv data.

The company's board declared a dividend of 50 cents per share for the second quarter to be paid on Oct. 24.

Elbit noted that in the wake of a recent rise in its share price, "if the share price remains at current levels, or (there are) further increases, there would be a significant increase in compensation expenses, related to the company's stock price linked employee compensation plans."

Elbit's Tel Aviv-listed shares are up 41% this year.

Elbit said its backlog of orders reached $14.1 billion at the end of June, up from $13.7 billion the previous quarter. About 74% of that comes from orders outside Israel, and some 52% is due to be performed in 2022 and 2023. (Reporting by Ari Rabinovitch Editing by Steven Scheer)