Gilbert Sedbon/PARIS
DESPITE TRIMMING its losses over the first half of the year, French manufacturer Aerospatiale warns of less encouraging signs for the rest of the year as the group struggles with a weak US dollar and lower sales volume.
Aerospatiale managed to cut group losses back to Fr105 million ($21 million) in the first six months, down from Fr333 million the year before.
The result would have been better still but for the "brutal and persistent" fall of the US dollar, which has dropped nearly by 9% against the French franc over the last 12 months. Without the decline, Aerospatiale says, that it could have ended the half-year, with profits of Fr655 million.
Aerospatiale could also have to make further provisions for restructuring, in part as a response to the new dollar levels. The French group says that it has begun a study on measures to ensure its profitability in the context of an exchange rate of around Fr5 to the dollar, and a long-term decline in defence budgets.
Aerospatiale also warns that the first half was artificially boosted by some "important" aircraft deliveries, which helped group sales rise by 11%. For 1995 as a whole, Aerospatiale is predicting another year of declining sales.
The group is showing an upturn in new business, however, with Fr20 billion of new orders booked over the first half. Order intake for the whole of 1994, was just short of Fr30 billion.
Aerospatiale's debt has also fallen, edging down to Fr6.4 billion, from Fr7.6 billion at the end of 1994.
Source: Flight International