Dassault Aviation yesterday reported contrasting results for last year, with a negative net order tally of -163 Falcon business jets, but a record 77 Falcon deliveries. During a press conference held at the company’s headquarters near Paris yesterday morning, Dassault chairman and CEO Charles Edelstenne said the negative order number includes 65 cancellations from fractional provider NetJets. These orders were scheduled for delivery after 2014, so this will have no immediate effect on Falcon delivery rates. Net orders last year fell by an estimated €3.9 billion ($5.3 billion). Thanks to the healthy deliveries, Falcon revenues, at €2.44 billion ($3.3 billion), grew by 5 percent. The total operating income of €393 million ($540 million) translated into an 11.5-percent operating margin. Despite the huge number of cancellations, the Falcon backlog stood at 249 as of December 31. Dassault is predicting “steady” Falcon deliveries for this year. Asked about the possibility of customers being able to get bargain prices on Falcons during the downturn, Edelstenne made it clear that this will not happen. Meanwhile, he said certification of the large-cabin Falcon 900LX has been postponed to the second half of this year.