“We expect most of the negative free cash flow to reverse in the second quarter, followed by substantially improving free cash flow in each of the third and fourth quarters.”

In context

“up 1.5% from year-end. Turning to our cash performance for the quarter. We had an expected slow start to the year, absent the delayed certification and entry into service of the G700 and continued G700 inventory build. So let's start with Technologies. We continue to see strong cash performance from that group in the quarter. As anticipated, Combat Systems and Marine Systems both built working capital in the quarter based on their unique mix of contract timing versus expected payments. Finally, moving to Aerospace. The lack of G700 deliveries drove us to use cash in the quarter. As a result, our free cash flow for the quarter was a negative $437 million. Since all of what I described is timing related, we still have an expectation for the year of a cash conversion rate around 100%. We expect most of the negative free cash flow to reverse in the second quarter, followed by substantially improving free cash flow in each of the third and fourth quarters. Now to discuss our capital deployment activities. Capital expenditures were $159 million, or 1.5% of sales in the quarter. Similar to last year, you should expect capital expenditures to increase in subsequent quarters throughout the year, as we anticipate spending between 2% and 2.5% of revenue on CapEx this year. Over 50% of that expected spend will be for infrastructure at our 3 shipyards as we continue to invest to support the Navy submarine and shipbuilding plan. Also in the quarter, we paid $361 million in dividends and repurchased approximately 390,000 shares of stock for $105 million at just under $269 per share. When you add it all up, we ended the quarter with a cash balance of around $1 billion and a net debt position of $8.2 billion. Our net interest expense in the quarter”