Safran

Not to be confused with saffron or Saffran.
For other uses, see Safran (disambiguation).
Safran S.A.
Société Anonyme
Traded as Euronext: SAF
Industry Aerospace, Defense
Founded 2005
Headquarters Paris, France
Key people
 Jean-Paul Herteman (CEO), Francis Mer (Chairman)
Products Aircraft engines and equipment, defence electronics, biometric technologies, smart cards, identity management
Revenue €13.56 billion (2012)[1]
€1.471 billion (2012)[1]
Profit €999 million (2012)[1]
Total assets €18.51 billion (end 2010)[2]
Total equity €4.705 billion (end 2010)[2]
Number of employees
 62,500 (2012)[3]
Website Safran-group.com

Safran S.A. is a French multinational aircraft engine, rocket engine, aerospace-component, and security company. It was formed by a merger between the aircraft and rocket engine manufacturer and aerospace component manufacturer group SNECMA and the security company SAGEM in 2005. Its headquarters are located in Paris.

Name

The name Safran, literally meaning "rudder blade", was chosen from 4,250 suggestions. As a holding company for many subsidiaries the name was deemed suitable for the suggestion of direction, movement, and strategy. Safran also translates as saffron, which the company highlights as one of the catalysts for early international trade.

History

Origins

In 1905 Louis Seguin created the company Gnome. Production of the first rotary engine for airplanes, the Gnome Omega, started in 1909. This company merged with the Le Rhône, a company created in 1912 by Louis Verdet, to form the Gnome et Rhône engine company. Gnome & Rhône was nationalized in 1945, creating Snecma. In 2000, this company gave its name to the “Snecma Group”, and carried out a number of acquisitions to form a larger group with an array of complementary businesses.

Sagem (Société d’Applications Générales de l’Electricité et de la Mécanique) was created in 1924 by Marcel Môme. In 1939, Sagem entered the telephone and transmissions market by taking control of Société d’Applications Téléphoniques (SAT). It acquired Société de Fabrication d’Instruments de Mesure (Sfim), a measurement instrument specialist, in 1999. However, by 2008 Sagem Mobile and Sagem Communications had been sold. Sagem Mobile became Sagem Wireless in January 2009.

Safran Group

The Safran Group was created on May 11, 2005, with the merger of Snecma and Sagem SA.

In June 2014, Arianespace CEO Stephane Israel announced that European efforts to remain competitive in response to SpaceX' recent success have begun in earnest. This included the creation of a new joint venture company from Arianespace's two largest shareholders: the launch-vehicle producer Airbus Group and engine-producer Safran.[4]

Group organization

The Safran group is divided into three main branches:[5]

Aerospace propulsion

The aerospace propulsion branch groups all operations concerning the propulsion of aeroplanes, helicopters, missiles, and launchers, for the civil aviation, military aviation, and space markets: design, production, marketing, testing, maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO).

Other subsidiaries

Aircraft equipment

Electric Green Taxiing System made with Messier-Bugatti-Dowty.

The aircraft equipment branch groups all design, production, sales, and support operations for systems and equipment used by civil and military airplanes and helicopters.

Other subsidiaries

  • Cinch Connectors
  • Globe Motors
  • Safran Engineering Services India (SESI)
  • SLCA
  • Sofrance
  • Technofan Inc.
  • Teuchos Maroc

Defense and security

The defense security branch operates in the civil, military, and space markets, and covers the following areas: inertial guidance and navigation equipment (SIGMA INS based on ring laser gyro sensors), optronics systems and equipment, avionics systems, UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) systems, air-land systems and equipment, biometric identification systems, secure transaction terminals, and smart cards. On July 1, 2009, the European Union approved Safran's acquisition of 81 percent of the GE Security division which produces airport security systems and biometric identification systems.[6]

Safran's biometrics products and technologies make up the "biometric data acquisition terminals, enrollment services, and processing software" used in Aadhaar, India's national identification number system and the largest biometric database in the world.[3]

Other subsidiaries

Defense
  • Sagem Avionics
  • Vectronix
Security
  • MorphoTrak (U.S. subsidiary of Morpho, formerly Sagem Morpho):[7]
  • Sagem Orga (now a division of Morpho):[8]
  • Morpho Detection (now a division of Morpho, formerly GE Homeland Protection):[9]
  • MorphoTrust USA (U.S. subsidiary of Morpho USA, formerly L-1 Identity Solutions):[10]
Other
  • Safran Conseil

Corporate affairs

Financial information

Year 2006 2007
Sales (M€) 11,329 12,003
Net income, Group share (M€) 177 406
Cash flow (M€) 1,003 1,221
Self-financed R&D (M€) 334 401

Shareholder profile

As of December 31, 2012:[3]

The biggest change in Safran's shareholder profile is the increase in publicly held shares (from 36.9% in 2008 to 54.1% in in 2012).[1]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 "2012 Key Figures". Safran Group. Retrieved 7 February 2014.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Annual Results 2010" (PDF). Safran. Retrieved 26 March 2011.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 "Safran in 2013" (PDF). Safran Group. Retrieved 7 February 2014.
  4. ↑ Abbugao, Martin (2014-06-18). "European satellite chief says industry faces challenges". Phys.org. Retrieved 2014-06-19.
  5. ↑ "Group | Safran". Safran-group.com. 2011-04-13. Retrieved 2015-03-08.
  6. ↑ "EU mergers and takeovers (June 24)". Reuters. 24 June 2009.
  7. ↑
  8. ↑ "Morpho". Morpho. Retrieved 2015-03-08.
  9. ↑ "Detection". Morpho. 2014-06-25. Retrieved 2015-03-08.
  10. ↑ "MorphoTrust USA". MorphoTrust USA. Retrieved 2015-03-08.
  11. ↑ "Arrêté du 21 avril 2011 portant nomination au conseil d'administration de la société anonyme Safran" (in French). Legifrance. Retrieved 2015-03-08.

External links