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Week ending June 13, 1999
AlliedSignal and Honeywell to merge
Neue Mega-Fusion in USA
On June 7, AlliedSignal and Honeywell announced that they have signed a definitive merger agreement which will create a global technology company with revenues of $25 billion and technical and product leadership across a wide range of industries. The all-stock merger is expected to be immediately accretive to earnings per share, with an estimated EPS benefit of $0.17 in 2000, rising to $0.32 in 2002. The merger combines two global players to create a Fortune 50 company. With a combined market capitalization in excess of $45 billion, the new company will have the financial strength, technology leadership, customer focus and Six Sigma process discipline to accelerate future growth across its businesses. The combined company will be called Honeywell and will be headquartered in Morristown, NJ.The new company's Aerospace organization will combine Honeywell's strengths in sophisticated avionics with AlliedSignal's strengths in flight-safety products and systems to create a preeminent global provider of integrated solutions for all classes of aircraft. These broader customer channels, combined with AlliedSignal's strong aerospace aftermarket presence, will significantly increase the scope of the new company's aerospace businesses and position them for accelerated growth.
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Mir remains in orbit
Raumstation bleibt unbemannt in der Umlaufbahn
Russia's space agency has confirmed that the Mir space station would be left unmanned following its crew's departure in August. Last week, 31 leading Russian space designers suggested that the station continue orbiting unmanned until next February or March, before being finally discarded. The delay is a last-ditch effort to raise the $250 million a year needed to keep the Mir working. The Russian government has said it would only pay for the Mir's operation through August, and efforts to lure private investors for further missions have failed. If money is found, a new crew will warm the Mir up again. If not, ground controllers will lower it to burn in the atmosphere with some fragments falling into an uninhabited part of the ocean.
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Lockheed Martin forecast gets cloudy
Schlechte Aussichten fr Lockheed Martin
Lockheed Martin has completed a financial review which has resulted in a substantial reduction of the current earnings outlook for 1999 and 2000. The Corporation now expects, excluding the effects of nonrecurring and unusual items, earnings per diluted share of at least $1.50 for 1999, and at least $2.15 in 2000. For the second quarter 1999, a loss per diluted share between $0.10 and $0.15 is expected, much less than analysts predictions on 0.7 dollars profit. This sent the share price tumbling over 10 per cent on the NY stock exchange.According to Lockheed Martin, the principal reasons for the revised financial outlook are increased cost growth, reduced production rates and delivery delays on the C-130J program; recent launch vehicle failures; and delays of launches and commercial satellite deliveries. The earnings outlook also excludes most of the previously anticipated portfolio shaping gains. "Clearly our forecasts about some key programs have not been realized, and we have not executed consistently across the Corporation to our expectations," said Vance Coffman, Lockheed Martin chairman and chief executive officer. "We will continue to examine operational, organizational and strategic alternatives, and we are prepared to make further changes necessary to achieve outstanding performance and increase shareholder value."
Referring to the C-130J Hercules, the annual production rate will be between 16 and 19 aircraft, and will not increase to 24 as previously projected. Cost growth has continued due to existing and incremental customer requirements on the 83 aircraft under contract. Thirty aircraft are now expected to be delivered in 1999, which is at the low end of the 30-35 range established earlier this year. Revised C-130J assumptions regarding cost performance, production rate and delivery timing account for approximately $275 million in reduced net earnings expectations, or $0.70 per diluted share.
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Britain cancels June air trade talks with U.S.
Grobritannien verschiebt Luftfahrt-Abkommen mit USA
On Monday June 7th Britain canceled the "open skies talks", a new aviation agreement, with the U.S. A British spokesman said the meeting had been canceled at London's request and would likely be rescheduled for July 5. ``We need more time to refine our negotiating position,'' the Department of Environment, Transport and the Regions spokesman said. The United States found the cancellation particularly frustrating after informal talks last month in London seemed to be yielding results. ``When it comes to aviation talks, the United Kingdom never misses an opportunity to miss an opportunity,'' said a State Department official. Last month, Britain made informal verbal proposals for a transition to open skies which the United States described at the time as ``productive.'' State Department spokesman Frank Jenista said formal talks had been due to take place June 14 under a schedule agreed to back in April at a meeting between U.S. Transportation Secretary Rodney Slater and John Prescott, Britain's deputy prime minister and transport minister. A proposed alliance between British Airways and American Airlines announced almost exactly three years ago led to stepped up efforts to revise the current bilateral agreement know as Bermuda II. U.S. officials conditioned antitrust approval of the alliance on a significant opening of the British aviation market, particularly London's busy Heathrow Airport. The talks have been anything but smooth. The U.S. side walked out of talks in London last October to protest what it alleged was British inflexibility. British Airways and American Airlines put their plans to jointly market tickets on each other's flights through code-sharing on hold last year.
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NEWS IN BRIEF / KURZMELDUNGEN
Aerospatiale Matra has joined bidders for CASA, saying that it was interested in buying a 30 percent stake in Spain's largest aerospace company. "We will adapt to (Spanish state holding company) SEPI, which is the seller, although our preference would be to buy around 30 percent in association with Spanish partners, and with the remainder (of CASA) trading on the stock exchange," Philippe Camus, deputy-chairman of Aerospatiale Matra, told reporters in Madrid. "If SEPI were interested in selling 100 percent we would be ready to adapt to that."+++
Romania has shelved a multi-billion dollar deal with the U.S. Bell Helicopters Textron in order to cope with tough budget constraints. It had planned to produce 96 AH-1RO attack helicopters in a deal wich also would have seen Bell pay $150 million for a majority stake in planemaker IAR. The army had fervently supported the deal, insisting it needed the helicopters to boost Romania's chances of securing NATO membership, its main foreign policy objective. But with NATO membership now put back for at least several years, ministers and politicians argued that Romania, plagued by a shrinking economy and bulging deficits, could not afford it. The International Monetary Fund also expressed misgivings.
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Aerolineas Argentinas S.A. received its first Airbus Industrie A340-200, becoming the first Latin American airline to operate a member of the four-engine A340 ultra long-range aircraft family. The Argentine flag carrier has a total of 12 A340s on order, including six A340-200s and A340-300s, to be followed by six A340-600s beginning in 2002. The newly delivered A340-200 can accommodate 225 passengers in a three-class configuration, with 12 First Class seats, 32 in Business Class and 181 seats in Economy Class. The A340-300, which Aerolineas Argentinas S.A. will operate on direct flights to New York and Los Angeles, will carry 264 passengers in three classes, also with 12 First Class and 32 Business seats, but with 220 seats in Economy Class. In both cases, First and Business Class cabins are fitted with individual in-flight entertainment systems.
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The Bell Boeing Tiltrotor Team flew Engineering and Manufacturing Development aircraft No. 9 to the Bell Helicopter Flight Research Center in Arlington, Texas, under a U.S. Naval Air Systems Command contract to modify it into a production representative Special Operations Forces variant, or CV-22. This is part of the CV-22 EMD contract that will modify two MV-22 EMD aircraft for use in development and operational testing. The aircraft will be used to validate CV-22 unique equipment and later for operational evaluations by the Multi-service Operational Test Team personnel. MV-22 EMD aircraft #7 will begin CV-22 modifications in July and will be used for the initial development and testing of the radar and additional fuel tanks.
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Pfalz-Flugzeugwerke, the employee-owned aerospace company at the former Dasa plant in Speyer, has reported a successful second year of operations. Turnover rose 42 per cent to 171 million DM in 1998 and should go up further to 211 million DM this year. It is planned to rise employment form 679 to 720 people. Also, invenstments will double to 12 million DM. Pfalz has cut itself a niche as supplier to Airbus, including its freight handling systems. It has succeeded in keeping cost in check, with employees working more at the same pay rates.
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Previous updates are still available:
Die News der letzten Wochen sind weiter abrufbar:
June 6, 1999
May 30, 1999
May 23, 1999
May 16, 1999
May 9, 1999
May 2, 1999
April 25, 1999
April 18, 1999
April 11, 1999
April 4, 1999
March 28, 1999
March 21, 1999
March 14, 1999
March 7, 1999
February 21, 1999
February 14, 1999
February 7, 1999
January 31, 1999
January 24, 1999
January 17, 1999
January 10, 1999
January to December 1998
January to December 1997
September to December 1996
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