Dassault Targets 80 Deliveries in 2009
Click here for more news / Clique aqui para mais notícias
Robert Wall/Paris wall@aviationweek.com
Dassault still expects to deliver 80 Falcon business jets this year although at mid-year it had only handed over 26 units, it announced during its first half financial call today.
However, with deliveries of Falcon 2000LX aircraft now underway, Dassault Chairman Charles Edelstenne believes the 80 unit number will still be met.
But the lower number of deliveries has taken a toll on Dassault's half-year financial results. Revenue is down to 1.3 billion euros ($1.9 billion) from 1.5 billion euros ($2.1 billion) at last year's half year mark. The share of Falcon business aircraft has shrunk to 65% of sales, from 71% last year. Net income shrunk to 118 million euros ($167.6 million), down around 30%.
As to the general market for bizav, Dassault sees signs of things stabilizing and potentially having hit bottom. The aircraft maker sees some life in the second-hand market, albeit at depressed prices.
As others, Dassault has suffered a slew of cancellations in the first six months. Consolidated orders figure which shows a negative 1.13 billion euros ($1.5 billion) balance for the first half of the year, compared with a 2.4-billion-euro gain last year. The French aircraft maker's order book is down to 14.6 billion euros ($20.7 billion), around 2.5 billion euros ($3.3 billion) less than six months ago and below the level at the end of 2007.
Meanwhile, Dassault plans to complete the basic definition work of its next Falcon business jet by year-end, but will not formally take the product to market for another 18 months.
"We are finishing the definition" of the aircraft and plan to have its aerodynamics design locked in this year, says Edelstenne. The aircraft, nominally called the SMS, has changed significantly from earlier design iterations, officials indicate.
Once that is done, other issues will come to the fore, such as supplier selections. Rolls-Royce was chosen originally as the SMS engine provider, but Edelstenne says commercial and performance issues could drive a change. Snecma is keen to secure the program as a launch base for its Silvercrest entrant into the business aviation market.
Dassault also has seen its cash position reduced to 1.69 billion euros ($2.2 billion) from ¬4.1 billion euros ($5.8 billion) after the first quarter. That's largely owing to the almost 2 billion euros ($2.8 billion) it spent to buy Alcatel Lucent's stake in Thales to strengthen its defense activities. Boosting defense has become particularly important, again, for Dassault, in light of the slowdown in its business aviation activities.
Photo credit: Dassault
