Bell delivered more civil helicopters in both the fourth quarter and all of 2018 than it did the previous year, while its defense business weakened in the same time frame. “Execution remains strong despite lower revenues from military volumes in the quarter,” Scott Donnelly, president and CEO of parent company Textron, said yesterday during a quarterly investor conference call.

In the last three months of 2018, Bell delivered 46 civil helicopters, up from 45 in fourth-quarter 2017. For the full year, commercial deliveries totaled 192, compared with 132 in 2017.

Revenue in the fourth quarter was $827 million, down from $983 million a year earlier. Full-year revenue was $3.18 billion, down 4 percent from 2017. Backlog was $5.8 billion, up from $4.6 billion at the end of 2017.

Donnelly noted that Bell continues to see increased demand across its civil portfolio. “For 2019, we’ll continue to ramp up production of the 505 [Jet Ranger X], and we’re increasing production rates on other models based upon increased customer demand,” he said. Donnelly expects Bell to see strong deliveries of its 407, 429, and 412 civil helicopters this year.