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GRIPEN

Saab shares dive despite strong 2011 report

Swedish defence and aerospace group Saab reported Friday a five-fold increase in its 2011 earnings after clinching several major contracts and said it hoped to increase sales this year.

Saab shares dive despite strong 2011 report

“2011 was an important year for us and we secured several key orders, such as further development and maintenance orders for the Gripen (fighter) from (Sweden) … and for our multi-mission radar system Giraffe from the US,” chief executive Håkan Buskhe said in a statement.

“I am also proud of the strong recognition Gripen received when the Swiss government … selected it” as the preferred bidder, he said.

The Swiss government is expected to formally approve the choice of the Gripen multi-role fighter in February.

In November, Bern announced it would buy 22 Gripen fighters to replace its ageing F5 fighter fleet for an estimated 3.1 billion francs ($3.38 billion).

But amid pressure from other rival suppliers still eager to win the deal, Saab, according to unconfirmed press reports, is ready to review its price down to perhaps 2.5-2.8 billion francs.

In 2011, Saab posted a net profit of 2.23 billion kronor ($333.8 million), up from 433 million in 2010. In the fourth quarter alone, profit rose 52-fold to 413 million kronor from 8.0 million kronor.

Sales fell 4.0 percent in 2011 to 23.50 billion kronor and were down 9.0 percent in the fourth quarter to 7.35 billion kronor.

“For 2012, we estimate that sales will increase slightly compared to 2011,” Buskhe said.

Orders however were lower in the second half of the year as “a consequence of continuous delays in customers’ decision making processes.”

Orders fell 28 percent in 2011 to 18.91 billion kronor giving an order book at the end of the year worth 37.17 billion kronor, down 10 percent from 2010.

That news worried investors and Saab’s share price slumped 9.3 percent in afternoon trade on a Stockholm market down just 1.25 percent.

Saab AB, whose star product is the JAS Gripen fighter, has for more than 30 years been a separate company from the now-bankrupt carmaker Saab Automobile.

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DEFENCE

France recruits 1,800 extra staff to cyber warfare unit

The French defence ministry on Wednesday announced plans to significantly boost the country's four-year-old cyber warfare force, citing the "growing number and gravity" of hacking attacks on the country.

France recruits 1,800 extra staff to cyber warfare unit
French defence minister Florence Parly. Photo: Alain Jocard/AFP

The government had already planned to add an additional 1,100 recruits to a unit created in response to the growing number of cyber attacks on the West, mostly blamed on Russia and China.

Defence Minister Florence Parly told a cyber security conference in the city of Lille on Wednesday she had decided to go further to try make France “a cyber security champion”.

Warning of a “Cold War in cyberspace” she said she would hire an extra 770 cyber combattants on top of an additional 1,100 already planned, bringing the force’s staffing level to 5,000 by 2025.

France and other Western countries are alarmed over a growing number of increasingly aggressive cyber attacks, including data breaches and ransomware attacks, which typically see hackers encrypting victims’ data and then demanding money for restored access.

Recent high-profile targets have included a US oil pipeline, Ireland’s health service and India’s flag carrier Air India.

Parly said that the French army needed to increase it use of the “cyber weapon”.

“Our opponents do not shy away from doing so, whether state powers, terrorist groups or their backers,” she said.

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