Cedar Rapids-based Rockwell Collins Inc. reported today that its first-quarter fiscal 2008 profits rose 8 percent as demand for its aviation products increased.

Net income for the three months ended Dec. 31 was $154 million, or 93 cents per share, compared with $143 million, or 84 cents per share, in the year-ago period. Revenues totaled $1.112 billion, up 12 percent from $993 million last year.

“We’re off to another great start to a new fiscal year,” said Clay Jones, chairman, president and CEO of Rockwell Collins, in a press release, “as our first-quarter financial results mark the fifth consecutive year in which we generated double-digit growth in first-quarter sales, total segment operating earnings and earnings per share.”

Commercial systems sales jumped 15 percent to $565 million as sales to airlines and aircraft original equipment manufacturers for new aircraft production rose 23 percent. Government systems sales increased 9 percent to $547 million.

The introduction of new aircraft models and a backlog of new aircraft production orders as well as another year of substantial growth in military investment accounts caused Rockwell to increase its sales and earnings per share projections for fiscal 2008. It expects total sales to be about $4.75 billion, up from a range of $4.7 to $4.75 billion, and earnings per share in the range of $3.85 to $4, up from $3.80 to $3.95.