Boeing has announced a surge in first-quarter net earnings to $469 million (€437 million) and said a restructuring programme launched last year had begun to bear fruit.

The world's largest aircraft manufacturer, which posted a profit of just $50 million in the first quarter of 1998, reported earnings per share this time of 50 US cents, seven cents better than market expectations and compared with five cents last year. Sales jumped 11.2 per cent to $14.39 billion (€13.4 billion) as the company delivered 148 commercial jet aircraft in the quarter, up from 108 in the first three months of 1998.