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Aviation History
2002
2002 - 2901.PDF
DISBANDMENT RAINER UPHOFF / GRANADA 728's troubles bring down Andalucia Aeroespecial Regional government aims to relocate Boeing manufacturing and attract Airbus work Southern Spanish aerospace con sortium Andalucia Aeroespecial is being disbanded by its controlling shareholder, the regional govern ment, due to the near-certain col lapse of its biggest programme - the Fairchild Dornier 728. Andalucian government invest ment arm IFA now hopes to con solidate the consortium's compo nent manufacturing for the Boeing 717 at Seville-based Sacesa, in which it has a substantial stake. Last month IFA managed to increase Sacesa's capital by €7.4 million ($7.3 million) in a move in which it and partner EADS reduced their relative holdings to leave the business owned 40% by IFA and 20% by EADS, with 40% belonging to three local banks. The aim is to create an entity bet ter placed to take on work on major projects such as the Airbus A380, with which the company already has panel and fairing contracts, and the Airbus Military A400M. Andalucia Aeroespecial was cre ated eight years ago. It says: "Andalucia Aeroespecial is being closed because the 728 programme has collapsed. This programme rep resented the lion's share of our activity. We are now trying to find an Andalucian alternative for Boeing - probably Sacesa." Sacesa is being groomed to take on major projects such as the A400M The companies that made up the consortium will continue to trade independently and the 50 central co-ordinating staff will be relocated within the local industry. The organisation adds: "We now believe that the structure of a con sortium is no longer adequate. We need larger companies able to com pete for larger projects on their own and which can then subcontract smaller assemblies to the shops previously operating under the Andalucia Aeroespecial umbrella." Sacesa director general Javier Perez de los Santos says: "Our main competences are new materials and fibre structures, which is an impor tant contribution to the Airbus pro jects. But it's completely up to Boeing what they are going to do about the 717." Meanwhile, the Andalucian gov ernment and Seville city authority have invested more than €12 mil lion to entice small and medium companies with Airbus work to relocate to the Technological and Aeronautical Park of Andalucia. The park is adjacent to Seville's San Pablo Airport. Gamesa, Elimco, Industria Especializada Aeronautica and Magtell have already acquired 15% of the available space. ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY CHRISTINA MACKENZIE IN SEVILLE BUSINESS RESULTS Smiths looks to defence sector sales Smiths Group has reported falling profits in its aerospace business caused by the slack civil aerospace market. "Demand is likely to remain at these lower levels for some time," the company says in its results for the year to 31 July 2002. Strong sales of defence and detection systems helped, but profits were still down to £191 million ($298 million) from £209 million in 2001. Smiths hopes defence sales will grow - it supplies around $1 million worth of avionics to each Eurofighter Typhoon, production of which is accelerating. The company netted £247 million from disposals, which helped reduce net debt from £1.12 billion to £725 million - the company's gearing is now only 20%. Smiths Group includes aero space, medical, sealing and industrial operations. Aerospace represents 44% of its £3.07 bil lion sales and 42% of its £406 million profits. Over half of its rev enues come from the USA, where it is a tier 1 supplier on such projects as the Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet and 777 airliner, and the Lockheed Martin C-130, F-16, F/A-22 Raptor and F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. But the company says it can maintain performance if defence, health care and biological/chemical detection sales remain strong. DIVESTMENT CHRISTINA MACKENZIE / PARIS Alcatel reduces Thales shareholding to 9.7% Alcatel, the French telecommuni cations manufacturer, has sold 6.1% of its shareholding in elec tronics group Thales but still remains the principal private share holder with 9.7%. Alcatel has been struggling as revenues from telecoms equipment sales collapse and its satellite busi ness performs poorly. The com pany raised €314 million ($307 million) from the sale, which it will use to reduce its €1.3 billion de.bts. Thales says the sale "has signifi cantly increased our free-float, from 45% to 52%," a situation it finds "very satisfactory". Being more widely traded will make it easier to obtain new investment. Thales' share price was down from €33 on 24 September to €30 at close of business on 25 September after the 10.3 million shares were placed with institutional investors by SG Investment Banking. Thales says the sale does not break the agreement signed in 1998 by Alcatel and the Groupe Industriel Marcel Dassault (GIMD), the family trust that owns Dassault Aviation, Belgian aerospace com pany SABCA, Dassault Falcon Jet and other companies. Under the agreement, GIMD had first option on Alcatel's Thales shares. GIMD says the shareholders' agreement has been maintained - it chose not to take up the option. "This confirms that we are not inter ested in increasing our share of Thales' capital," GIMD says. Its share stays at 5.9% while the French state share remains at 32.6%. • Alcatel Space has announced it will cut 400 jobs in the first half of 2003, from a workforce of 5,200. It also plans to convert its Valence plant to other work. www.flightinternational.com FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL 1-7 OCTOBER 2002 25
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