Dassault Aviation eyes growth for 2019 as 2018 profits rise

France’s Dassault Aviation forecast higher net sales for 2019 and more orders of planes as it posted a rise in annual sales and profits.

The maker of Rafale warplanes and Falcon business jets said its 2018 operating profits had surged 87% from the previous year to 669 million euros ($761 million), while net sales rose 4.3% to 5.08 billion euros.

Adjusted net profits rose 66% to 681 million euros.

Analysts were on average expecting operating income of 463 million euros on sales of 4.952 billion, according to Eikon Refinitiv data.