LATECOERE

The Latécoère group, specialising in aerostructures and onboard wiring, announced today that Airbus has decided to terminate the discussions related to the acquisition of the French Méaulte and St Nazaire Ville sites.

The world economic situation and the weakness of the dollar that are weighing down the aeronautical sector have not allowed this operation to be finalised.

However, the Latécoère group, currently a first-rate partner for all the worlds major aircraft manufacturers and having significant engineering resources and production capacity are studying, with Airbus, the possibility of participating in the A350 programme in other forms.

The Latécoère group will make an announcement on the first quarter’s activity and the annual trends on 15 May.

About Latécoère

This international group is a first-rate partner of the world's major aircraft manufacturers (Airbus, Embraer, Dassault, Boeing, Bombardier). Latécoère is involved in all sectors of the aeronautical industry (commercial, regional, business and military aircraft), in three areas of activity:

• Aerostructure (68% of sales): fuselage sections and doors
• Onboard wiring and systems (27% of sales): onboard wiring, electrical fixtures and equipment.
• Engineering and services (5% of sales): research, design and realisation of tooling.

The Group employs 3,800 people in 8 different countries.
Its consolidated sales figures for 2007 come to €489 million and the order backlog is worth €1,820 million.

Latécoère is listed by NYSE Euronext Paris, compartment B - Indexes: SBF 250, CAC MID&SMALL 190, SMALL 90 - Codes ISIN : FR0000032278 - Reuters : LAEP.PA - Bloomberg : LAT.FP