Jet deliveries at Cessna Aircraft fell nearly 6 percent year-over-year in the first quarter, but Textron Aviation managed to log higher revenue and profit thanks to Beechcraft, Scott Donnelly, chairman and CEO at parent company Textron, said today during a quarterly investor conference call. Revenue at Textron Aviation soared by $266 million, to $1.051 billion, “primarily reflecting the impact of the Beechcraft acquisition” in March last year. The segment also reported a profit of $67 million in the first quarter, compared with $14 million a year ago.

Textron Aviation delivered 33 Citations in the first quarter (two fewer than in the same period last year) and 25 King Airs (up from 22 in the first three months of 2014). Donnelly said sales in the first quarter were “healthy,” though backlog still deflated by $99 million from the fourth quarter, to $1.3 billion. However, he is optimistic about sales of the new Citation Latitude, which just finished FAA certification flight-testing, with agency approval pending. In addition, Donnelly is “encouraged” that pre-owned jet pricing is improving, which he expects will translate into more new aircraft replacement purchases since trade-ins are worth more.