Jet engine maker Safran raises 2013 target after sales jump
PARIS: French aerospace group Safran raised on Tuesday its 2013 sales target after posting an annualised 9.5 percent jump in the first quarter of the year, and said it would buy Rolls-Royce's half of a helicopter engine joint venture.
Safran reported sales of 3.4 billion euros ($4.4 billion) in the first three months of the year from both its widely-used aircraft engines and aftermarket services.
Jet engines provided to Airbus and Boeing alone accounted for 1.83 billion euros in sales, a jump of 15.5 percent from the same period a year earlier, a statement said, as global aircraft manufacturers continue to book substantial numbers of orders.
Safran finance director Ross McInnes told a telephone news conference that the group would buy out Rolls-Royce's share of a helicopter engine joint venture for 293 million euros.
The unit builds RTM322 engines for US Apache attack helicopters, the European NH90 multi-role model and the Agusta-Westland EH101.
Meanwhile, "since the beginning of the year, our global civil aftermarket performed satisfactorily with 10-percent growth over an already strong first quarter of 2012," chairman and chief executive Jean-Paul Herteman was quoted by the statement as saying.
"Based on growth in the first-quarter of 9.5 percent and the contribution of the newly-acquired Goodrich business, we upgrade our full-year revenue guidance for 2013 and confirm our renewed high confidence in our outlook for 2014 and beyond," he added.
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Source : economictimes.indiatimes.com