Dassault Aviation's 2009 profit falls as orders cancelled

SAINT CLOUD, France, March 17, 2010 (AFP) - France's Dassault Aviation posted on Wednesday a 15.5 percent drop in net profit in 2009, a year marked by several cancelled orders but record deliveries for its Falcon business jet.

The company said in a statement that net profit fell to 315 million euros last year from 373 million euros in 2008.


Dassault delivered 14 Rafale fighter jets last year and a record 77 Falcon business jets, the company said.

But the company was hit by the cancellation of orders for 163 planes, including 65 Falcon jets.


by Richard Ingham
(c) 2010 AFP