Santa Ana-based aerospace manufacturer Ducommun Inc. has landed a contract valued at more than $200 million from an unnamed customer to produce housing for engines, fuel and equipment.
Under the agreement, which runs through 2029, it will supply nacelle components for an unidentified “leading engine” original-equipment manufacturer to support a single-aisle commercial aircraft. Nacelle is a streamlined housing, or tank, for something on the outside of an aircraft.
Ducommun is utilizing its proprietary VersaCore Composite technology, which enables “the manufacture of lightweight aircraft structures at a lower cost without compromising strength,” Chairman and Chief Executive Stephen Oswald said in a press release.
The billed benefits: fewer parts, reduced assembly time, and lower amounts of inventory to manage.
Ducommun (NYSE: DCO) will complete the composite product design and process development by next year and plans to begin full production in 2020.
The work will be primarily handled at the company’s low-cost facility in Guaymas, Mexico.
The VersaCore technology has been applied to commercial and military aircraft structures, including aircraft engine nacelles. Other applications include aircraft doors, flight-control surfaces, fairings, ducts and contoured parts.
The contract is the second piece of good news this month. On Aug. 6, the company reported second-quarter revenue of $154.8 million, up 9.9% year-over-year and besting Yahoo Finance analysts consensus of $148.5 million. Shares soared 18% in the following trading session and are up 40% year-to-date.
Last year, Ducommun moved its headquarters from Los Angeles to Santa Ana.
The company was established in 1849 and carries the distinction of being California’s oldest continuously running company and the oldest manufacturer in L.A. It’s worked on Boeing 737s since their inception in the 1960s. Ducommun’s aerostructures unit has had a milling facility in Orange since 1981.
Firm Loses Fight
The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in Pasadena rejected an appeal from San Juan Capistrano-based InfoSpan Inc. and its owner, Farooq Bajwa, dismissing claims Dubai-based Emirates Bank stole trade secrets.
InfoSpan sought $1.6 billion in compensatory and punitive damages, alleging Emirates Bank terminated a contract so it could steal and use its proprietary software.
The latest ruling upheld a unanimous jury verdict two years ago in favor of Emirates Bank.
In the lawsuit, InfoSpan claimed it invested $100 million to develop the SpanCash banking product, which would allow immigrant workers in the Middle East without bank accounts to send remittance payments to their family members using stored “value cards” and text messages. Value cards include debit and gift cards.
The idea was that customers, mainly low-income, could deposit money on the card and send it to family and friends in other countries, and the recipient could use his or her own card to withdraw funds.
Emirates Bank maintained that InfoSpan defrauded the bank and actually had no functioning product or technology.
Latham & Watkins LLP defended the bank. Recently retired partner Dean Dunlavey of its OC office was part of the original team.
Big Bus Work
Santa Ana-based Iteris Inc. (Nasdaq: ITI) won a $1.4 million contract from Culver City to provide a bus signal priority system for eight Culver CityBus lines.
Under the three-year deal, which could be extended for two years, Iteris will provide design services, procurement and testing, and operationalize the billing and settlement plan (BSP) system at 103 signal intersections. The initiative is designed to improve service in 33 square miles of West Los Angeles for over 5 million Culver CityBus riders each year.
The latest contract marks the company’s seventh BSP project in Southern California. It’s handled similar work on more than 600 intersections in the region.
On Aug. 7, Iteris, which makes sensors and systems for transportation and agriculture uses, reported fiscal first-quarter revenue down 6.3% to $25.5 million and a $1.6 million loss, or five cents a share.
Its shares are down about 33% this year, recently trading at $4.71 and a $156 million market cap.
