Ducommun Inc. said a slowdown in military aircraft component sales contributed to a drop in fourth quarter revenue. The company still reported a profit, but the results did not meet Wall Street expectations.

The Carson aircraft component maker late Monday reported net income of $4.2 million (39 cents per share), compared with a net loss of $3.2 million (-31 cents) a year earlier. The 2009 quarter included a goodwill impairment charge related to its Miltec acquisition that was equivalent to 74 cents per share.

Sales fell 3.7 percent to less than $102 million. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters on average expected per-share profit of 47 cents on revenue of $106 million.

Ducommun, which makes a wide variety of components and assemblies for aircraft, missiles and spacecraft, including the U.S. military’s Chinook helicopters and C-17 cargo aircraft.

“We continued to experience program delays that moved certain C-17 and Chinook shipments into (this year),” said Chief Executive Anthony J. Reardon in a statement. He added that “does not, however, dampen our confidence that 2011 is shaping up to be a stronger year for Ducommun.”

The company had an order backlog of $328 million at the end of the quarter. Reardon said the company was continuing to develop new products for the commercial aircraft market to offset the current weakness in the military market.

The markets were not open Monday. Ducommun on Friday closed at $23.39 on the New York Stock Exchange.