Aircraft

Embraer has reported record revenues and profits for last year as well as an 88% improvement in fourth quarter earnings.

The Brazilian manufacturer says it turned a net profit of $156 million for the three months ending 31 December, an 88% increase compared with the $83 million profit turned during the same period of 2004.

Revenues for the fourth quarter increased from $954 million to $1.2 billion. It delivered 40 aircraft during the quarter, including 32 regional jets and eight business jets.

For the full year, Embraer generated a record $3.8 billion in revenues, an 11.3% increase compared with 2004. It also turned a record net income of $446 million, an increase of 17.2% over the previous year.

The record year has left Embraer in better financial position, recording net cash of $360 million as of 31 December 2005 compared with only $22 million on 31 December 2004.

The company says its outlook looks bright despite slow sales of the ERJ-145 family because of new orders for its larger E-jet family.

Embraer says its orderbook now includes $10.4 billion worth of firm orders, including 440 firm orders for E-jets.