BAE Systems remains cautious and is still negotiating with Saudi Arabia

 The British defense group BAE Systems reported Tuesday a beginning of the year in line with expectations, under pressure from budget savings in Europe and the United States, as it continues to negotiate the finalization of a major contract in Saudi Arabia.

The activity of the first four months of the year was in line with expectations of the group, which expects slow growth in its turnover in 2012 "in the current market conditions" because of cuts in defense budgets, BAE Systems said in a progress report unencrypted.

The results remain subject to completion of an important negotiation with Saudi Arabia. This country had signed with BAE in 2007 a contract of nearly 4.5 billion pounds (5.5 billion) to buy 72 Eurofighter Typhoon combat aircraft.

As part of this program named "Salam", both parties are currently negotiating on a price increase of 48 aircraft still to be delivered.

The group says expect a slight increase in underlying earnings per share this year in case of finalization of contract negotiations Salam.

The Eurofighter Typhoon is produced by a consortium of the European group EADS defense and armaments (46%), BAE Systems (33%) and Italy's Alenia / Finmeccanica (21%).

BAE Systems has entered into discussions with the Sultanate of Oman on the potential sale of twelve Eurofighter but has instead lost a giant contract in India in favor of the Rafale built by the French group Dassault Aviation. He had also experienced a major setback late last year, when Japan chose the American F-35 aircraft from Lockheed Martin.

The British group, the number one defense in Europe, remains under pressure due to cuts in defense budgets in the United Kingdom and the United States, where it is implanted. It was announced last year the removal of nearly three thousand jobs in Britain.

The 2012 budget of the United States causes less harm to groups that the previous budget, BAE observed. But it also underlines the risk of further reductions in expenditure of U.S. defense equipment as a result of the presidential election in November.