Northrop Grumman unveils sharpened business focus

Northrop Grumman Corp. will de-emphasize its technology services, including military base operations support, to focus on higher-margin opportunities, according to today’s Washington Business Journal.

"We decided to focus less on top line a few years ago when we saw the market turning, and shrunk the company to one that is highly focused in core areas, from about $35 billion to $25 billion at midpoint this year," Steve Movius, vice president of investor relations, told a June 13 investors conference, according to the WBJ report.

Areas that will continue to be top priorities include C4ISR, which accounts for about 40 percent of Northrop’s annual sales. Unmanned systems make up another 10 percent and cybersecurity accounts for most of the other 50 percent, according to Movius.

"We're deemphasizing our lower end services, including base operations support," he said. "We're intentionally exiting some of those, intending to instead pursue targets that are higher value... Our portfolio we look at every day; we're not wed to anything."