Profit of Brazil's aerospace giant Embraer tumbles 65 percent in first quarter

Brazil's airplane manufacturer Embraer registered net profit of 134.9 million reais (44.4 million U.S. dollars) in the first quarter of 2017, a stark 65 percent drop year-on-year.

In the first three months of 2016, the company had registered net profits of 358.7 million reais.

In a statement, Embraer attributed this sharp drop to a seasonal fall in sales and the postponement of the launch of a geostational defense and communications satellite due a general strike in French Guiana.

In the first trimester of 2017, Embraer delivered 33 planes (18 commercial planes and 15 executive jets), a 25 percent drop from the first quarter of 2016, when it delivered 44 (21 commercial, 23 executive).

According to Embraer, new orders in the first quarter stood at 19.2 million U.S. dollars, 12.3 percent down from the 21.9 million U.S. dollars in the same period of last year.

However, the Brazilian company refused to lower its projections for 2017 and still projects to close the year with net income between 5.7-6.1 billion U.S. dollars.

"The company's first-quarter deliveries are generally the weakest in terms of seasonality. But Embraer remains confident in its 2017 guidance for 97 to 102 commercial jet deliveries and 105 to 125 executive jet deliveries," read the statement.

The company's current backlog stands at 432 aircraft, worth a combined 19.2 billion U.S. dollars. Endit