At Eurocopter’s annual Heli-Expo breakfast press conference yesterday, CEO Lutz Bertling said the company is using the current economic downturn to retool its business for greater performance and efficiency, while actively pursuing the next generation of helicopter technologies including its Blue Edge and Blue Pulse blade and other research and development programs “so that we will be ready for the market once the upturn comes.” He also said that the company planned to have two new helicopter models on display at next year’s Heli-Expo, but he declined to identify them. “Look for test flights in Europe first,” he said.
Bertling said that in 2009 Eurocopter’s business sectors posted declines of various degrees with the exception of offshore oil and gas customers, but that nevertheless company revenues were up overall to $6.2 billion from $5.9 billion in 2008, due largely to the company’s increased focus on military and service sales. New orders increased modestly from $6.4 billion in 2008 to $7.8 billion last year. Bertling said the company continues to carry a robust backlog valued at $20 billion. However, new net orders during 2009 were down sharply from 715 in 2008 to 344, once cancellations were included. Eurocopter’s share of the world civil helicopter market stands at 53.5 percent. Sixty-five percent of the company’s business is derived from exports.
