Boeing revenues reach record high

US plane manufacturer Boeing said revenues in the last quarter of 2012 reached a record US$22 billion.  

Its backlog of plane orders also hit an all-time high of  US$390 billion dollars as the company began delivering the first of  its new flagship Dreamliner 787 jets.  

The firm made net income of  US$978 million dollars, down 30% from a year ago, when it benefited from an unusually low tax bill.  

The figures pre-date the grounding of the 787 worldwide earlier this month by air regulators over a battery fault.