International orders accounted for more than half of Gulfstream’s 2007 earnings and contributed to a 17.3-percent increase in net sales last year, to $4.8 billion, up from $4.1 billion in 2006. Operating earnings increased 25.8 percent, from $644 million in 2006 to $810 million last year. According to Nicholas Chabraja, chairman and CEO of Gulfstream parent company General Dynamics, international orders–those outside North America–accounted for 53 percent of Gulfstream’s earnings, with “particularly strong growth” in Asia during the fourth quarter. Fourth-quarter net sales increased from $1.03 billion in the fourth quarter of 2006 to $1.21 billion in the final quarter of last year. Fourth-quarter operating earnings also increased, from $168 million in 2006 to $212 million last year. Meanwhile, domestic orders–which accounted for 47 percent of last year’s earnings–increased from 92 in 2006 to 121 last year. “We were faced with robust demand by any reasonable standard in the U.S. and Canada, but the percentage of [domestic] orders declined in the face of powerful growth across the rest of the world,” Chabraja said. The number of total orders increased year-over-year, from 159 in 2006 to 257 last year. Deliveries also increased from 113 in 2006 to 138 last year.