Tuesday, January 13, 2009

French Naval Shipyard DCNS 2008 Orders Were Below Expectations / Shipyard DCNS To Miss 2008 Sales Goal - CEO

French Naval Shipyard DCNS 2008 Orders Were Below Expectations / Shipyard DCNS To Miss 2008 Sales Goal - CEO
(NSI News Source Info) PARIS, January 13, 2009: French naval shipyard DCNS, a quarter owned by defence electronics group Thales, will miss its 2008 revenue target after failing to win a contract for a second aircraft carrier, its outgoing head told a newspaper on Tuesday. DCNS is one of this elite group, boasting more than 350 years of history. Major shipyards were built in France in Ruelle (1751), Nantes-Indret (1771), Lorient (1778) and, subsequently, in Cherbourg (1813). Others were to follow. As early as 1926, DCNS already had all the facilities now owned by the Group in mainland France. The DCNS Group is one of Europe's leading players on the world market for naval defence systems. To meet customer demands for more comprehensive and integrated systems, DCNS acts as prime contractor for naval shipbuilding, integration and support by combining its own development, marketing and production capabilities with those of selected partners. To manage the complexity of such projects, the Group draws on in-house expertise in naval architecture and systems engineering, ship assembly and integration and equipment design and production, as well as through-life support. The DCNS Group employs 13,000 people and generates annual revenues of around €2.8 billion (www.dcnsgroup.com). Chief Executive Jean-Marie Poimboeuf, who is being replaced at the helm of the group on Tuesday by Patrick Boissier, told La Tribune sales would be slightly below 2.6 billion euros ($3.49 billion). DCNS had aimed for sales above that level. Poimboeuf told the newspaper 2008 orders were also below expectations. "We had banked on orders of over 3 billion euros. They will exceed 2 billion euros, being closer to 2 billion than to 3 billion euros," he said.

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