"Airport-security budget rises"

Thursday, January 3, 2008

Airport-security budget rises
The Associated Press


WASHINGTON - Makers of airport explosive detection systems, including
Analogic Corp. and L-3 Communications Holdings Inc., are likely to benefit
from a bigger Homeland Security budget, a Wall Street analyst said Thursday.

The department's overall 2008 fiscal budget rose 9 percent to $35 billion.
Of that, the airport explosive detection budget edged up 7 percent to $867
million, a tad higher than the 5 percent rise anticipated.

"This is positive for airport EDS vendors including Analogic, L-3
Communications, General Electric Co., as well as checkpoint-airport security
companies, including OSI Systems and American Science & Engineering Inc.,"
said Josephine Millward, a Stanford Group Co. analyst, in a note to clients.

Of the $544 million designated for explosive-detection systems, $89 million
will go to contracts to deploy next-generation systems in small to
medium-sized airports. Of the 450 U.S. airports, 250 are small to medium
sized.

Congress has also allocated mandatory funding to provide checkpoint support
to screen airline passenger and carryon baggage. That funding, Millward
added, should give companies like Analogic, AS&E and OSI a boost.


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