By Mike Boyer, The Cincinnati Enquirer
and Enquirer news services

The parent of Fairfield's O'Gara Hess & Eisenhardt said Tuesday that it remains comfortable with expectations that it will report revenues of up to $370 million for the fourth quarter ended Dec. 31.

And Jacksonville, Fla.-based Armor Holdings Inc. said 2004 revenues should range between $620 million and $640 million and earnings will be between $1.50 and $1.60 a share.

Monday, Armor said its O'Gara Hess & Eisenhardt unit won two defense contracts valued at $40 million. One involves supplying armor kits for 1,500 Army Humvees, the second will supply bullet-resistant windshields for 5,200 Humvees.

Employment at the Fairfield plant has nearly doubled over the last year to 375, and the plant expects to add another 75 jobs in the near future to handle daily armoring production of 11 vehicles, up from 5 daily last fall.

Shares of Armor Holdings closed Tuesday at $28.08, up 8 cents, after touching their highest level in almost two years.

In reports Tuesday:

• NCR Corp.: The Dayton company said its fourth-quarter earnings climbed 40 percent from last year, partly because of the weaker dollar.

The computer services company said it earned $80 million, or 84 cents a share, in the three-month period that ended Dec. 31. That compared with earnings of $57 million, or 57 cents a share, for the same period of 2002.

The company said the weaker dollar contributed 6 percentage points to its revenue. NCR reported revenue of $1.64 billion, up 4 percent from $1.58 billion.

For the year, NCR earned $58 million, or 61 cents a share, compared with a loss of $220 million, or $2.21 a share, a year ago when the company cited the weak economy and cautious customers.

NCR shares closed at $39.75, down $1.25.

• Cummins Inc.: The world's largest maker of high-powered diesel engines said fourth-quarter profit fell 6.5 percent as an accounting expense offset stronger demand.

Net income dropped to $43 million, or $1 a share, from $46 million, or $1.10, a year earlier, when the company benefited from an income-tax adjustment. Without it, the company would have reported a loss in the fourth quarter of 2002.

Sales climbed to $1.74 billion from $1.41 billion, the Columbus, Ind.-based company said.

Cummins shares rose 94 cents to $53.79.

E-mail mboyer@enquirer.com.