Northrop Grumman Corp. posted an 8 percent increase in second-quarter profit as sales jumped 10 percent thanks to strong performance in its shipbuilding sector.

The Los Angeles-based government and defense contractor posted net income of $495 million ($1.44 per share), for the period ending June 30 compared to $460 million ($1.31) in the same period a year earlier, beating Wall Street’s expectations of $1.40 per share in profit.

Sales across its four business segments rose to $8.63 billion in the quarter; analysts expected $8.28 billion.. Sales in Northrop’s shipbuilding division were up 24 percent to $1.69 billion, and they were up 6.5 percent to $3.18 billion in its information and services unit.

Shipbuilding, however, may decrease next year after the Navy announced last week that it was scaling back on a lucrative shipbuilding program headed by Northrop.

Sales from Northrop’s electronic unit rose 3 percent to $1.68 billion thanks to higher sales of combat avionics and airborne surveillance equipment while sales in the company’s aerospace sector rose 8 percent to $2.48 billion due to increased demand for its unmanned Global Hawk system.

Northrop also reiterated its 2008 profit guidance of between $4.90 and $5.15 per share on $33 billion in sales. Analysts polled by Thomson Financial say they expect earnings of $5.11 per share on revenue of $33.3 billion.

Shares in Northrop were off 1.8 percent to $67.42 in early trading Tuesday.