Dassault Aviation registered orders for 1,680 million euros in the first half, ten times less than during an exceptional same period of 2022, but saw its net profit increase by a third thanks to its financial profitability.
During the first six months of the year, the aircraft manufacturer, which makes Rafale fighter jets and Falcon business jets, saw its turnover fall to 2.3 billion euros from 3.1 the previous year, after having delivered four Rafales. and nine Falcons, against seven Rafales. and 14 Falcons in the first half of 2022.
The net profit swelled despite the fact that the operating profit has marked time, up to 152 million euros (-56 million): the financial result for its part reached 111 million euros compared to a financial loss of 37 million during the first semester of 2022.
The tenfold division of new orders in the period is the result of an exceptional first half of 2022, with 80 Rafale for the United Arab Emirates, six for Greece and 41 Falcon.
However, the order book remains almost stable and very comfortable, at 34,400 million euros (-600 million), of which 73% are for export. “Logically it should increase by the end of the year,” with the expected entry into force of firm orders for Rafale from India, Indonesia but also from France, explained the company’s CEO, Eric Trappier.
“In a difficult context” for the supply chain, like the entire aeronautical sector, “our objectives for 2023 remain unchanged: we anticipate the delivery of 15 Rafale and 35 Falcon (including Falcon 6X) and a lower turnover compared to to last year,” according to Eric Trappier.
Beyond the success of the Rafales for export, which will lead the company to increase its production rates between one and three aircraft per month, Dassault Aviation has warned that in “the current market for executive jets, the rebound in growth observed in 2022 , after the Covid period, began to slow down during the last quarter of 2022, a slowdown that continued in the 1st half of this year”.
Source: BFM TV
