French software group Bull said on Thursday that sales in the first half of the year had slipped but held to its reduced forecast for an operating profit for the whole of the year.
Sales in the first half totalled 559.2 million euros (704.3 million dollars), a fall of 2.2 percent from the figure for the same period of last year.
But the group stood by a forecast that operating profit would be 13.0-18.0 million euros in 2006, as it had announced in June when it had slashed its operating forecast from 40.0-45.0 million euros.
It expected operating profit in the first half to be 8.0 million euros.
In the first half, the number of orders taken had increased by 21.0 percent.
