Leonardo Helicopters continued to meet program targets in the third quarter of 2019, adding to parent company Leonardo’s 11 percent growth to €9.1 billion (US$10 billion) over the same period in 2018, according to the company’s Nov. 7 earnings report.

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Overall, Leonardo’s orders were at €8.6 billion (US$9.5 billion) in the third quarter this year, an 8.6 percent drop from the same period in 2018. The first nine months of 2019 saw €2.2 billion (US$2.4 billion) in helicopter orders — primarily an NH90 buy by Spain, and Poland’s purchase of the AW101. About €527 million (US$582 million) of those orders came in the third quarter, according to Leonardo. That’s down from €4.6 billion (US$5 billion) in the first nine months of 2018, of which €3.3 billion (US$3.6 billion) came in the third quarter, driven by a €3 billion (US$3.3 billion) NH90 order from Qatar.

“The first nine months of 2019 are another important step forward on our journey: we are delivering consistently across our main businesses,” CEO Alessandro Profumo said during a Nov. 7 earnings call. “We are reconfirming 2019 guidance. We are fully focused on executing our industrial plan aimed at value creation for all our stakeholders. We have been achieving this through successfully driving commercial momentum and top line growth, improving profitability, investing and building for a sustainable future, all with a disciplined financial strategy.”

Despite the drop in orders, Leonardo Helicopters saw an increase in both revenue and profitability, compared to the same period of 2018, according to CFO Alessandra Genco.

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Among the major new orders in the third quarter of 2019 were 23 NH90 tactical helicopters bought by the Spanish Ministry of Defence and the sale of four AW101 multi-purpose naval helicopters to the Polish Ministry of Defence. The helicopter business also saw jumps in orders for customer support and training services, she said.

A total of 91 new helicopters were delivered in September 2019 compared to 113 deliveries of the same period of 2018 while revenues rose from €826 million (US$912 million) in the third quarter 2018 to €841 million (US$929 million) in the same period this year.

“Revenues increased compared to September 2018 as a result of higher levels of activity on both governmental programs and customer support and training, which more than offset the lower deliveries of helicopters for civil customers,” the company stated in a press release.