“This is consistent with our expectation for the year of a cash conversion rate in excess of 100%.”

In context

“s and IDIQ contracts, ended the quarter at more than $128 billion. Turning to our cash performance for the quarter. It was another exceptional start to the year, with operating cash flow of $1.46 billion, representing 200% of net income. This very strong cash flow was heavily loaded in the last few weeks of the quarter. After capital expenditures, our free cash flow for the quarter was $1.3 billion, a cash conversion rate of 178%. While we continue to enjoy strong cash performance in Aerospace & Technologies, the Combat Systems group, in particular, delivered outstanding free cash flow this quarter. As expected, the U.K. resumed payments on the AJAX program. This coupled with the ongoing progress payments on our other large international vehicle program drove the group's cash performance. This is consistent with our expectation for the year of a cash conversion rate in excess of 100%. Now turning to capital deployment. Capital expenditures were $161 million or 1.6% of sales in the quarter. Similar to last year, you should expect capital expenditures to increase in subsequent quarters throughout the year. Also in the quarter, we paid $345 million in dividends and repurchased approximately 400,000 shares of stock for $90 million at just over $220 per share. We ended the quarter with a cash balance of over $2 billion and a net debt position of $8.5 billion, down nearly $800 million from year-end. As a reminder, we have $750 million of debt maturing in the second quarter and we are in a position to pay that down with the cash on hand following the receipts at the end of the first quarter. Our net interest expense in the quarter was $91 million compared to $98 million las”