Snecma chairman Jean-Paul Béchat says the group has reviewed its business outlook for 2003, forecasting lower sales than the €6.5 billion ($7.6 billion) posted last year, but it is still hoping for a stable net income of around €106 million. Snecma has received over 500 orders for CFM56-5B and CFM56-7 engines so far this year.
"We are increasing our market share," said Béchat at last month's Paris air show, "but it is in no way certain that we will continue to receive large orders every month".
All Nippon Airways, EasyJet and Ryanair, among others, have recently ordered aircraft powered by the CFM International CFM56 engine. CFMI is a 50:50 joint venture between Snecma and General Electric of the USA.
B‚chat also spoke about the reorganisation of Arianespace, in which Snecma holds 7.83%. He said he and Philippe Camus, co-chief executive of EADS, who co-signed a letter to the French government outlining their ideas as to how best Arianespace could be reorganised, agree that "the industries which are going to participate in the capital should do so according to their industrial participation in the programme and Arianespace should become simply the marketing unit of the Ariane European space launcher programme". This would lead to EADS holding between 40% and 45% while Snecma would increase its stake to between 20% and 25%, with the remainder going proportionally to other industrial partners such as Air Liquide, Fiat Avio and Volvo Aero.
Source: Flight International
