CHRISTINA MACKENZIE / PARIS
Snecma chief executive Jean-Paul B‚chat says the group will be ripe for privatisation when its 2003 results are revealed at the end of February, and hopes the French state will go ahead with the long-awaited sell-off in the next few months.
He says there are no legal obstacles, after the inclusion in July 1993 of the company on the state's list of companies to be privatised.
Béchat says: "The economic obstacles which have delayed the privatisation have now gone." He says that after two crisis-laden years for the aerospace sector "our group has demonstrated that its economic model is robust and we are ready in all transparency for the market".
The group estimates 2003 sales were €6.4 billion ($8 billion), down slightly from the €6.5 million registered in 2002, but expects a "significant increase" in 2003 earnings from the €106 million posted in 2002. The group, whose market value is estimated at €5-6 billion, has reduced its net debt by "more than half", Béchat says.
He rejects any suggestion of merging with Thales or Dassault, saying it would be "neither necessary nor useful for Snecma".
Acknowledging that the group was approached by Thales in early 2002 concerning a merger, Béchat says: "We are not involved in defence systems. Our job is to sell equipment; we are not a systems integrator. We do not think pairing up with Thales would be to our advantage and it could even put us in difficulties vis-à-vis our clients."
He says the same argument applies to a merger with Dassault. "We sell equipment and engines. There is no commercial advantage in associating with one of our clients."
Source: Flight International
