SAO PAULO (AP) -- Brazil's Embraer plane maker posted a 31 percent rise in profits for the fourth quarter of last year, but the company's net income for all of last year sank 36 percent.
The company says profit for the October-December period was $146.4 million, up from the $111.7 in earnings for the fourth quarter of 2008. Per-share earnings rose to 80 cents from 62 cents.
Empresa Brasileira de Aeronautica SA said in a statement late Thursday that sales fell 11 percent in the fourth quarter to $1.6 billion and were down 14 percent for all of 2009 at $5.5 billion.
Embraer gets most sales from its mid-size commercial jets and executive jets. The company blamed the financial meltdown for the sales slump but predicted plane orders will increase this year.
