Aerospatiale has unveiled a new holding company structure, paving the way for its Airbus operations to be included in the new Airbus corporate set-up, and creating a new ATR subsidiary.
The new Airbus subsidiary will include the main production sites at St Nazaire, Nantes, Toulouse (Blagnac) and Méaulte, as well as the design offices, all of which will go into the new Airbus Single Corporate Entity due to be formed at the start of 1999.
Activities conducted for the ATR regional-aircraft venture with Italy's Alenia will also be transferred to a new subsidiary, with the suggestion that it will be made available to incorporate into any future European aerospace entity which follows from the Airbus SCE.
The decision raises further questions over the future of the ATR/British Aerospace co-operation within Aero International (Regional). Aerospatiale president Yves Michot says that, following the failure to launch the proposed AIRJet project, there is less need for ATR and BAe to carry on with joint marketing of their products.
Michot adds that Aerospatiale will set up a systems-engineering and information-technology division to serve all the restructured group's businesses.
The restructuring comes as Aerospatiale revealed preliminary financial figures for 1997, which Michot says has left the state-owned manufacturer in better shape than expected, with pre-tax profits "significantly higher" than the predicted Fr1 billion ($170 million).
Sales were up by 8%, to Fr55 billion. Orders soared 27%, helping the backlog to Fr161 billion, representing almost three years of work.
Source: Flight International
