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Piper's High-End
Aircraft, M-Class Helps Push Piper Aircraft Sales Over The Top By Daniel Baxter |
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February 26, 2012 - Piper Aircraft ended 2011 with increased revenue from new aircraft sales of $131.2 million, up more than nine percent from $120.2 million a year ago.
The increase was fueled primarily by a favorable mix of
Piper's flagship single-engine Meridian turboprop
deliveries in 2011. Piper delivered 32 new top-end
Meridians in 2011 compared with 25 in 2010.
"Our program to level-load the factory has resulted in a more stable quarterly revenue stream from the sale of new aircraft along with continuing manufacturing efficiencies, which we expect to continue," said Piper President and CEO Simon Caldecott. |
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Quarterly revenue during the year grew from $26 million first quarter to $31 million second quarter to $35 million third quarter and to $38 million in the fourth, reflecting a steady and well-managed delivery and manufacturing pace.
"Piper
continues to meet or exceed our internal financial and delivery
targets, and we are focused on continuing to balance our
production activities with the marketplace. Moreover, increased
deliveries of the top-end Piper Meridian and a larger backlog
for our overall core products entering 2012 mean that the
company is stronger financially than just a year ago or the
previous year," he added. Cumulative 2011 deliveries of Piper's
M-Class high-end aircraft single-engine Meridian, Mirage and
Matrix business airplanes - increased to 82 aircraft from 74 in
the preceding year.
Fourth
quarter revenue from new aircraft sales was $38.7 million and
included eight new Meridian sales in the United States and one
abroad. Overall, Piper's initiatives to expand its global
footprint resulted in international sales of 70 aircraft during
2011, compared with 66 in the U.S, the second consecutive year
that international aircraft deliveries exceeded domestic.
Total
deliveries in 2011 were 136 aircraft, compared with 160 the
previous year as a result of the company's strategy to reduce
overall unit volume to focus on higher-performing M-Class
aircraft and to level-load the delivery pace to reflect market
realities. Still, 136 deliveries in 2011 were more than 50
percent above 90 new Piper aircraft delivered in 2009,
demonstrating a continuing upward trend since the world's
dramatic economic downturn in 2008.
"Piper is
pleased with where the company is today from a number of
perspectives. We have a much higher sales and support profile
around the world, a healthier backlog, the factory is performing
well, and our financial picture is stable and brightening,"
Caldecott added. "Our vision for the future calls for growing
our global presence, selling and supporting more airplanes, and
getting much more efficient at it."
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