Story ID: 134RussianAINOct16EditedByAY_NM
Russian Helicopters Backlog Grows, Income Shrinks
By: Mark Huber
Caption: The company is more aggressively pursuing additional markets.
Word Count: 169

Russian Helicopters recently announced it has boosted its order backlog to 500 helicopters and that it intends to pursue the offshore and light helicopter segments more aggressively. CEO Alexander Mikheev said he is encouraged by the size of the order backlog even as the company reported plummeting income for the first six months of this year, down 24.1 percent to $156 million. 

Russian Helicopters delivered 212 helicopters last year and claims a 15 percent share of the worldwide market for civil and military helicopters; 35 percent of military helicopters overall; and 50 percent of medium transport helicopters. In the worldwide civil market, the company claims 71 percent in the 20 ton and over segment and 69 percent in the seven- to 20-ton segment. Last year the company posted a 30-percent gain in sales of aftermarket product support services, taking this segment to $390 million. Last year it posted income of $450 million on overall revenue of $3.03 billion, with significant sales gains from clients in Africa, which accounted for almost half of all new-helicopter sales for the company.