BUSINESS NEWS
13 Oct 08. Aerospace companies won’t escape the effects of the continuing credit crisis, even though the industry entered the crisis in robust condition, European executives said Friday. The crisis and global economic slowdown “will have a serious, serious impact on our industry,” said Allan Cook, chief executive of U.K.-based Cobham PLC. The credit squeeze and the slower economic activity will rub off on all sectors of the aerospace industry, Charles Edelstenne, chairman of French military- and business-jet builder Dassault Aviation SA, said after the annual congress of the Aerospace and Defense Industries Association of Europe.
Suppliers of military equipment will suffer as countries divert defense spending to support other parts of their economies, he said. Demand from end users such as airlines and aircraft leasers could dwindle if they can’t obtain credit, he said. On Thursday, the chief executive of European Aeronautic Defence & Space Co., Louis Gallois, said he wasn’t particularly worried about the crisis, adding that it will have only a limited impact on his company. EADS, parent of European plane maker Airbus, is benefiting from the stronger dollar. EADS sells its planes in dollars but incurs most of its costs in euros. (Source: WSJ)
10 Oct 08. General Electric Co (GE.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock
Buzz) reported a drop in quarterly profit that matched its recent warning to Wall Street, and the U.S. conglomerate said the global credit crunch and slumping economies would continue to take a toll on its hefty finance arm. GE shares notched an 11-year low in volatile trading on Friday before recovering a 2.6 percent gain after posting a 22 percent drop in net income. Its profit was weighed by a 33 percent fall at GE Capital, overshadowing growth at its infrastructure arms, which were buoyed by solid demand for electricity-generating turbines and jet engines. (Source: Reuters/Google)
17 Oct 08. Rockwell Collins, Inc. (NYSE: COL) today announced its intent to acquire SEOS, a leading global supplier of highly realistic visual display solutions for commercial and military full flight simulators. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed. After completion of the transaction, SEOS will operate under the Rockwell Collins name and will become part of the Simulation and Training Solutions organization. “We are pleased to bring SEOS’ expertise and excellent customer affinity to Rockwell Collins. Their state-of-the-art displays, coupled with our industry-leading image generators, create a fully integrated visual system that is truly greater than the sum of its parts,” said Rockwell Collins Chairman, President and CEO Clay Jones. “The addition of SEOS’ innovative displays to our simulation and training offering further enhances our ability to deliver a highly realistic training experience to our commercial and military customers.” “SEOS has enjoyed a wonderful 24 years as an independent company within the simulation industry – but we now feel that for the benefit of our customers and staff, we need a strong partner to take us to the next level,” said Owen Wynn, executive chairman of SEOS. “Rockwell Collins is the perfect choice because of the wonderful synergies between the two companies. We are all extremely excited about the prospects of working together in the future.” The transaction is expected to be completed in about 30 days and is subject to regulatory approvals. The acquisition is not expected to have a material impact on Rockwell Collins’ fiscal year 2009 earnings.
17 Oct 08. Saab reported disappointing third quarter results on Thursday, with pretax profits down 44 percent compared to the same period last year. Saab’s pretax profits for the third quarter came in at 178m kronor ($24m), a significant decrease from last year’s 317m kronor. Sales also dropped 5 percent from 4.8bn to 4.6bn kronor. Saab plans to launch several cost savings measures which will cut staff by 500 employees over the