Boeing financial forecast assumes little impact from 787 problems

NEW YORK (REUTERS) - Boeing Co stood by the troubled lithium-ion battery technology that this month grounded its new, high-tech 787 Dreamliner and said on Wednesday that the grounding had no significant impact on its 2013 financial forecast.

It's "business as usual", chief executive officer Jim McNerney said as the Chicago company posted market-beating profits for the fourth quarter.

Responding to revelations that the 787 battery has had more problems than previously disclosed, Boeing said it will speed up production of the jet as planned and that it had not advised suppliers to slow down shipments of pieces for the 787, the most widely outsourced jet in the company's 97-year history.

"Nothing that we have learned has told us that we have made the wrong choice on the battery technology," Mr McNerney said on a conference call with analysts and journalists following release of fourth quarter results.