Monday afternoon at the Farnborough International Air Show 2008 

 
Monday afternoon, Finmeccanica Pavilion has welcomed the Indonesian Delegation which was particularly interested in our key products in the Helicopter Sector, EH101 and Future Lynx and our Surveillance Systems.
The Indonesian Delegation has been followed by the visit of Mr. John Laugerud, Deputy Director General of Forsvarsdepartementet, Norwegian Ministry of Defence and of the Delegation of the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), led by its General Director Mr. Richard Lambert.
Finmeccanica Pavilion has been flattered by the participation of the Turkish Delegation led by Mr Murad Bayar, Undersecretary of the Ministry of National Defence.
In the beginning of the afternoon, Mr. Bruce Lemkin, Deputy Under Secretary of the Air Force for International Affairs of the US Headquarters visited the Finmeccanica Stand as well as Mr Paul Labrosse, Director General Major Project Delivery (Air) of Canada.
Finmeccanica dedicated the first night of the International Air Show to the Press Gala Event welcoming journalists from the most important International newspapers and magazines in the Gala Event held in the Royal Chelsea Hospital, London. All guests were delighted with an exclusive Champagne tasting in the beautiful surroundings of the ancient London facility.
 
- First day at FIA 2008:  download video
 

Finmeccanica Press Conference 

 
The Finmeccanica Press Conference held today at the Pavilion Auditorium, by the President and CEO of the Group, Pier Francesco Guarguaglini, and by the Chief Operating Officer, Giorgio Zappa.
Mr Pier Francesco Guarguaglini, President and CEO of Finmeccanica stated "For Finmeccanica, 2008 will be the year in which we made a leap forward in quality. As you know, this year we launched the acquisition of DRS Technologies, which is extremely significant for us both in terms of the investment required as well as in its objective: to become a prime contractor to the US defence industry."
He also added "This transaction has not yet been completed, as we are waiting for clearance from various bodies. However, we are confident that it will be concluded successfully and these comments are made on this basis."
Mr Guarguaglini emphasized that "We also believe that a new phase is beginning, one in which Finmeccanica must "become what it truly is". That means putting to good use the expertise and tools that I mentioned and maximising their potential."
Finmeccanica Top Manager outlined the current solid position of the company, as a truly international Group, with more than 150 locations overseas, of which more than a third are production facilities. In 2007, Group revenues totalled 13.4 billion euro (+8% compared to 2006), while EBIT exceeded 1 billion euro (+19%), with a margin of 8.1%. If we add the pro-forma revenues of DRS, the total for Finmeccanica comes to 15.7 billion euro.
Investment in research and development over the past few years has remained at between 14% and 16% of revenues, and in absolute terms Finmeccanica has invested around 9 billion euro in research since 2002.
The other area in which the company has invested is in the ongoing training of Group staff, from new recruits to senior managers. Last year, we spent more than 10 million euro on over 750,000 hours of training, with an average pro capita investment of 250 euro for almost 20 hours of training.
Mr Guarguaglini concluded his speech saying that "… the road for Finmeccanica has been mapped out: now we just need to push ahead, without hesitation and with the determination that has brought us this far."
Mr Giorgio Zappa, Chief Operating Officer, added to the President and CEO's speech, that Finmeccanica is developing two levels of integration, which must be completed quickly and in parallel: integration within the sectors in which Finmeccanica has made significant acquisitions, and integration at group level.
"The first level regards" he explained "the helicopters business, where the integration of AgustaWestland is almost complete".
"The second level of integration" he then added "directly concerns Finmeccanica's corporate side, which plays an essential role in coordinating the operating companies both in relation to R&D and staff training as well as in preparing integrated offers, opening up new markets, protecting our position in existing markets and interacting with institutional clients."
He concluded by saying "By developing our business along these three fundamental lines - integration, internationalisation and value creation - we are convinced that we can "become who we truly are" and continue to be leaders."
 

First Morning at the Farnborough International Air Show 2008 

 
Today has been officially opened the 46th Edition of the Farnborough International Air Show. The Finmeccanica Pavilion, Chalet and Static Area has already welcomed many International and Italian Delegations. To begin with some Italian presences: Mr Guido Pugliesi, CEO of ENAV (Italian Company For Air Navigation Services) was one of the first guests to visit the Finmeccanica Stand; followed by Mrs. Maria Di Pofi, Vice Director of Terrestrial General Armaments and Mr. Alessandro Frisullo, Vice President of the Puglia Region.
Finmeccanica Pavilion has also been visited by Professor Leonardo Lecce and Professor Attilio Salvetti, both members of the L.808 Committee respectively of the University of Napoli and University of Pisa.
In the meanwhile, also Capt. Robert Dishman from the US Precision Strike Programme Office and Dakuk Wira Abu Seman Bin Haji Yusop, Deputy Defence Minister of Malaysia toured at Finmeccanica Static Area and Stand.
The busy schedule of the day has also involved the visit of the Secretary of State for Business Enterprise and Reform - Dept of Business Enterprise and Reform, Rt Hon John Hutton who appreciated the state-of-the-art products and systems shown in the Pavilion.
Among the International guests, the Finmeccanica Stand and Static Area also welcomed Tan Sri Dato Sri Azizam bin Ariffin, Chief of the Royal Malaysian Air Force and Deputy Chief of Armaments Department of Romania, Air Flotilla Gen. Ion-Eftimie Sandu and Commissioner Yang Chi-Kyu, from Defence Acquisition Program Administration of South Korea.
The morning schedule ended with a meeting between our President and CEO, Mr. Pier Francesco Guarguaglini, and Rt Hon David Cameron, Leader of the Conservative Party and the visit of Mr Ben Wallace, Member of the House of Commons.