First-half revenue and profit up at Russian Helicopters

Russian Helicopters has boosted first-half revenue to Rb69.2 billion ($1.86 billion), up 7.4% on the same period a year earlier. EBITDA also grew 16.1% to Rb13.6 billion during the six months ended 30 June, with profit at Rb4.4 billion – a 44.7% rise against the first half of 2013. Revenue from helicopter sales stood at Rb58.7 billion and support services generated some Rb7.5 billion. The airframer’s backlog consists of 794 helicopters, with a total value of around Rb401 billion. Data from Flightglobal’s Ascend Online Fleets database shows over half the backlog, or 417 units, comprises helicopters destined for Russia’s armed services. In fact, a little over three-quarters - 76.4% - of the orderbook is for military rotorcraft. And the flagship Kamov Ka-62 – a new civil entrant in the 6.5t class – remains marooned on just 12 orders from two Latin American operators. First flight of the new rotorcraft was scheduled for August 2013, but now appears to have slipped to the fourth quarter of this year.