COMMERCIAL ENGINES DRIVE MTU'S FIRST QUARTER
MTU Aero Engines' role as a shareholder in the International Aero Engines V2500 project drove first quarter rises in sales and operating profit of 4% to €664.8 million ($983.6 million) and 17% to €80.5 million compared with the first quarter of 2010. V2500 business was the main force behind commercial engines new units and parts sales growth of 17% to €309.6 million and maintenance division rises of 3% in sales to €251.6 million and 44% in earnings before interest and taxes to €20.5 million. MTU's engine order backlog shrunk slightly, to €4.3 billion, but that figure does not include recent sales of the Pratt & Whitney PW1100G geared turbofan, in which MTU is a partner, for the Airbus A320neo programme.
AEROSONIC SHOWS RECOVERY FROM WEAK 2008
Clearwater, Florida-based components maker Aerosonic posted a 32% rise in fourth quarter sales to $8.8 million, although sales for the full year to 31 January remained down 5% at $29.6 million while full year net income was $625,000, down from $4.3 million a year ago. Chief executive Douglas Hillman said: "We finished repaying our many customers who stepped up to help us recover from the 2008 fire". A blaze destroyed 40% of manufacturing space at the firm's Clearwater site.
ROLLS-ROYCE OPENS NEW US MANUFACTURING SITE
Rolls-Royce has opened its new 16,720m2 (180,000ft2) "Crosspointe" manufacturing site in Prince George County, Virginia, to manufacture discs for civil engines including the Trent 1000, Trent 900 and Trent XWB. The plant had been earmarked to make blisks for the recently cancelled alternate F136 engine for the Lockheed Martin F-35 fighter. R-R was developing the powerplant with GE.
MILITARY SPARES LIFT MOOG
Aircraft control sales gained 17% to $206 million for the second quarter to 2 April at Moog, led by a military aftermarket up 55% at $19 million. Commercial aircraft sales were up 14% to $74 million, including $37 million to Airbus and Boeing. Revenue on business jet programmes increased 52% to $7 million, and commercial aftermarket sales gained 14% to $24 million. For the half year, aircraft division were up 10.5% to $402 million.
EMBRAER QUADRUPLES Q1 PROFIT
Brazilian regional jet manufacturer Embraer more than quadrupled its first quarter income to $105.1 million, as revenue rose 7% to $1.06 billion, of which 71.2% came from the commercial aviation division. The company's total firm order backlog increased by $400 million to $16 billion, with firm orders for E-Jets standing at 987 as of 31 March.
FIGHTER DELAYS HIT DUCOMMUN
First quarter sales for Los Angeles components maker Ducommun dipped 4.5% to $99.6 million, reflecting military programme delays partly offset by slightly higher regional jet sales; pre-tax profit fell 37% to $4 million. Delays to Boeing F-15 and F/A-18 are expected to be made up in future quarters.
SAFRAN MERGES THREE LANDING-GEAR DIVISIONS
Safran Group is merging three landing-gear subsidiaries - Messier-Bugatti, Messier-Dowty and Messier Services - to create a single specialist division, Messier-Bugatti-Dowty, to be headed by Messier-Bugatti chief Alain Sauret.
Source: Flight International
