Northrop Grumman Corp. (NOC) said third-quarter profit soared 62%, helped by a gain from the dissolution of a joint venture and a strong performance in its ships business. It also raised its forecast for 2007 earnings from continuing operations. The Los Angeles global defense and technology company said net income rose to $489m, or $1.41 a share, from $302m, or 86 cents a share, a year earlier. The latest results included a gain of $21m, or 6 cents a share, for the dissolution of the company's AMSEC joint venture with SAIC Inc. (SAI). For giving up its 55% stake in AMSEC, SAIC received some of the venture's operations. Year-ago results included a pretax legal provision of $112.5m, or 20 cents a share. Revenue rose 6.7% to $7.93b from $7.43b a year ago.