Dassault Aviation saw its operating profit double to €250 million ($276 million) during the first half of 2019 on the back of sharply higher net sales.
Adjusted net sales nearly doubled to €3.1 billion for the six months ended 30 June, with deliveries of 17 Falcon business jets and 10 Rafale fighters to export customers. In the first half of 2018, the company delivered 15 Falcons and only two Rafales.
"The first half of 2019 was dominated by uncertainty over the European elections, geopolitical tensions, terrorism, the trade war between China and the USA, Brexit and environmental pressures," says Eric Trappier, chairman and chief executive of Dassault Aviation.
Dassault
As of the end of June, the company's backlog for Rafale fighters stood at 91 examples, of which 28 were earmarked for France and 63 for international customers.
During the first half, Dassault delivered the first 10 of 36 Rafales to Qatar, with five more examples delivered in August. The first half also saw Dassault commence work on the F4-standard Rafale.
In addition, Dassault adds that Egypt's 24th Rafale was delivered in July, with India to receive its first of 36 of the type in 2019. It notes that the Indian air force is getting ready for the jet's service entry.
Dassault continued working on its Indian supply chain and saw the production release of the first Falcon 2000 assemblies produced there.
The airframer has also continued work on its global customer service for the Falcon, noting the July acquisition of RUAG's business jet operations in Geneva and Lugano, which followed its acquisition of the European operations of ExecuJet and TAG Aviation.
The backlog for Rafales fell to 85 at the end of August, while the backlog for Falcons rose to 56, up from 43 at the end of June.
Dassault had orders for seven Falcons in the first six months of 2019, but this rose to 26 by the end of August. The Rafale has received no orders in 2019.
"In previous years, a recurring seasonality phenomenon has been observed. As a result, the interim results as of 30 June, 2019 are not necessarily representative of what might be expected for the full-year 2019," says the company.
Source: FlightGlobal.com
