BRASÍLIA, Nov 6 — Brazilian plane-maker Embraer said today it returned to profit in the third quarter, with revenues up 38 per cent on the back of booming commercial aviation sales.

Embraer, the world’s third-biggest plane-maker after Airbus and Boeing, reported a net profit of 304.5 million reais (US$61 million, by the company’s own exchange rate calculation) for the July-September period.

That was up from a net loss of US$30.2 million for the same period last year, and marked a return to profit after two straight quarters of losses.

The result was driven by a 68-per cent increase in commercial aviation revenues from last year, to US$424.9 million, as the company delivered 15 commercial aircraft and 28 executive jets, it said in a statement.

Overall revenues were US$1.28 billion, up 38 per cent from the third quarter last year, it said.

Embraer said it ended the quarter with a firm order backlog of US$17.8 billion, its highest ever in a single year. — AFP