Safran's turnover jumped by a quarter in 2022

Safran's sales jumped by a quarter in 2022, driven by the appreciation of the dollar, the currency in which it invoices its services for civil engines, which are growing strongly and which constitute the group's main source of income.

Revenues from the engine manufacturer and aeronautical equipment manufacturer stood at 19.04 billion euros, according to its results published on Friday which show a "

" .

At constant scope and exchange rates, revenue growth was 15.8%.

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Revenues were driven by the recovery in global air traffic, especially on medium-haul: as aircraft fly more, airlines need more spare parts and maintenance operations.

These services for civil engines grew by 29.3% and alone account for almost a third of Safran's revenue.

And since they are billed in dollars and the American currency has appreciated strongly, they benefit from a favorable exchange rate effect for the group.

Deliveries of Leap engines, which power all Boeing 737 MAX aircraft and around 60% of Airbus A320s, reached 1,136 units, up by a third.

The engine manufacturer was initially counting on 1,200 engines but it had to face, like the aircraft manufacturers, the difficulties encountered by its chain of suppliers, weakened during the pandemic, to increase the pace.

He expects for 2023 an increase of “

” in the number of Leaps delivered, i.e. around 1,700 engines, when last year he expected to deliver 2,000 in 2023. “

," he warns.

For 2023, the group expects “at least 23 billion euros” in revenue

In total, the Propulsion division's revenues increased by 18.3%, as did those of the Equipment and Defense business (+10.6%) and Aircraft Interiors-cabins, seats and inflight entertainment ( +25.1%).

This enabled the group to generate an adjusted net profit of 1.18 billion euros.

In published data, however, Safran suffered a net loss of 2.46 billion euros due to a charge of 4.5 billion euros related to the need to write down the value of its foreign exchange derivatives portfolio in its accounts. .

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Like all groups, Safran hedges against foreign exchange risks by buying currencies for future years at rates agreed in advance.

These foreign exchange hedging contracts were made at a rate that had become too expensive in relation to the fall in the euro during the half-year against the dollar.

"

", explained Safran in the first half.

For 2023, the group expects “

” in revenue and an increase of one-third in its current operating profit to “

”.