Parrot to pursue profits with commercial drones
01/03/2017 17:55
By Manon Jacob
March 1 (Reuters) - French drone maker Parrot PARRO.PA
aims to return to profitability by 2018 by expanding its
commercial drone business, its finance chief said on Wednesday.
Companies and governments are turning to the unmanned aerial
vehicles for everything from monitoring crops to parcel
deliveries. Parrot recently acquired Agribotix, which provides
drone-enabled technologies for agriculture.
About half of Parrot's 2015 drones revenue came from the
Americas region. The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration
expects sales of small unmanned aircraft systems for commercial
use to rise more than four-fold to 2.5 million units in 2017.
Pricing pressure from Chinese competitors, particularly from
the market leader DJI, makes the market for consumer drones,
often used for racing or photography, less attractive. This
business accounted for over half the company's revenue in the
fourth quarter.
"Professional drones should generate at least 50 to 60
percent gross margin on the long run where consumer drones
cannot generate more than 35 percent of gross margin", Chief
Financial Officer Gilles Labossiere told Reuters.
"We are not running for market share, we are seeking to be a
strong number two in the drone industry and we will focus on the
segments that will allow us to be profitable," Labossiere said.
The company's shares have lost over a fifth of their value
since the company announced in January that it would not meet
its fourth-quarter revenue target.
After disappointing consumer drones results in 2016, the
company expects a strong first half rebound due to product
developments and an acceleration of online sales. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL5N1GE1MU
(Reporting by Manon Jacob and Alan Charlish in Gdynia; Writing
by Thyagaraju Adinarayan; Editing by Elaine Hardcastle)
((manon.jacob@thomsonreuters.com; +48 58 772 0920;))
Keywords: PARROT DRONES/