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Dassault Aviation reports lower profits

France’s Dassault Aviation recently announced that they are getting lower profits. As a result, the company has halved its dividends last Thursday and became the latest air craft manufacturer to succumb to the global financial crisis.

Dassault Aviation, which is renowned for engineering Rafale warplanes and Falcon private jets, said that net profit fell from 382 million Euros in 2007 to 373 million Euros in 2008. Operating revenues fell by from 4.085 billion to 3.748 billion. And after careful analysis of the economic recession, the company has decided to cut is dividend per share from 10.6 Euros to 5.8 Euros.

According to a report by Tim Hepher posted at Reuters.com, “Dassault said new orders for Falcon planes plunged to 115 jets from 212 in 2007. The value of total new orders fell to 5.82 billion euros from 6.265 billion.”

The demands for private jets have been negatively affected by the economic recession. That, plus the political turmoil caused by America’s big three automakers late last year, has given the private aviation industry painful scars.