Paris (AFP)

The engine and aeronautical equipment supplier Safran published Wednesday a turnover down 6.9% in the first quarter, to 5.4 billion euros, affected since March by the crisis in the air sector due to the pandemic of Covid- 19.

"Faced with the brutal cessation of their revenues", the airlines whose fleet is nailed to the ground "immediately postponed their maintenance operations and then the deliveries of new planes," explained general manager Philippe Petitcolin at a conference. telephone.

Excluding currency and scope effects, the drop in sales amounted to 8.8%.

With a 1.7% decline in activity, the first two months were almost unaffected by the Covid-19 crisis "," although impacted by the drop in production of Leap-1B ", the engines which equip Boeing 737 MAX, nailed to the ground for more than a year, he noted.

On the other hand, the impact was hard felt in all of the group's activities in March (propulsion, aeronautical equipment and aerosystems, aircraft interiors), with a 20.4% drop in turnover.

"These trends intensified in April and the expected drop in turnover in the second quarter could be in line with that observed in April," added the group in a press release.

Safran therefore expects to produce only about 1,000 Leap engines, which equip all B737 MAX and more than half of Airbus A320, instead of the 1,400 planned for late February, noted Mr. Petitcolin. Safran delivered 1,736 Leap in 2019.

Service activities for civil engines, important sources of revenue for Safran, also suffered from the immobilization of air fleets.

The group, which expects a "gradual recovery" with "deliveries of aircraft lastingly down, beyond 2020", is however confident in its model and its position.

The group says it has "a strong and sufficient liquidity position to finance the continuation of its activity".

Safran "aims to generate positive cash flow over the entire financial year", as it was "every month in the first quarter," the press release said.

Cash and cash equivalents amounted to 3.2 billion euros at March 31. The group also signed the opening of a new line of credit of 3 billion, which had been announced at the end of March.

To cope with the crisis, Safran is cutting costs: 60% drop in investment expenditure compared to 2019, 30% in research and development expenditure and more than 20% in operational costs.

Forty of its 250 industrial sites around the world are currently closed. Of the 95,000 employees, 28% of employees work on site (21% in France) and 35% are in partial activity (45% in France), according to Mr. Petitcolin.

© 2020 AFP