Dassault Aviation shares fall after CEO warns of Falcon 5X delay

PARIS (Reuters) - Shares in Dassault Aviation (AVMD.PA) were down 3.5 percent in early trade on Tuesday after the company's chief executive told a U.S conference the Falcon 5X business jet's entry into service would be delayed.

Dassault Aviation shares were down 3.5 percent in early session trading, the worst performer on France's SBF-120 index.

CEO Eric Trappier said aerospace group Safran (SAF.PA) had informed Dassault of certain manufacturing issues regarding a high pressure compressor. He made the comments on Oct. 9 at an aviation industry conference in Las Vegas, and a copy of his speech was provided by Dassault Aviation.

Safran shares were down 0.7 percent.

"Safran just informed us that the ongoing tests have revealed some performance issues with the high pressure compressor. We haven't yet analysed all the consequences, but we already know that the 5X entry into service, which had been rescheduled in 2020 in accordance with the latest engine development plan, will have to be postponed again," said Trappier.

(Reporting by Sudip Kar-Gupta, Benoit Van Overstraeten and Blandine Henault; editing by Jason Neely)