British arms manufacturer BAE Systems said Thursday it held out hope that India may reverse its decision to negotiate a mega-contract for 126 fighter jets exclusively with France's Dassault Aviation.

In a lacklustre earnings statement, BAE said it still felt a deal with India could bounce its way despite a shock decision from the former colony long seen as a privileged partner for Britain.

India announced in late January it had selected Dassault, builder of the Rafale, over BAE as the preferred bidder in a contract estimated to be worth $12 billion (9.1 billion euros).

The Eurofighter Typhoon project, which had been seen as the frontrunner, involves Britain's BAE and companies in Germany, Italy and Spain.

If concluded, the contract would mark the first time the French jet had found an export partner, despite being in service with the French military since 1998 and having proved itself in several conflicts.

France is confident that it can sign and seal a firm deal to supply India the jets within six to nine months.

But BAE, who owns 33 percent of the Eurofighter project, said it would keep fighting for the India deal.

"The programme has a long way to go before a contract is awarded and we continue to actively support the bid," BAE said in its earnings statement.

BAE chief executive Ian King added that the consortium partners were exploring all options including a discount on the aircraft, though he added there were limits on how far the consortium would go.

Howard Wheeldon, independent defence and aerospace analyst, predicted "a long running contest".

"Eurofighter Typhoon has still got a very credible chance of pulling this back," he said.

The main question "is whether France and Rafale can meet the commitments that they have made of in terms of industrialisation and technology transfer commitments to India," Wheeldon said.

Britain and Eurofighter already have a lot of experience in this domain, Wheeldon noted and could use this to wrench India away from the Rafale.

In the days following the announcement, French President Nicolas Sarkozy underlined the significant transfers of technology in the deal.

The big stakes deal with India may cloud a Franco-British summit in Paris on Friday. Tensions between France and Britain have been high lately, mainly on European issues.

The pressure is on BAE to expand its market with old customers Britain and the United States slashing defence spending.

BAE sales in 2011 sank 14 percent as cash-strapped governments axed spending on defence and security, and the company's order book shrank to 36.2 billion pounds.

Earnings rose 18 percent last year but only thanks to one-off items such as a research-and-development tax credit and through axeing 22,000 jobs out of a global workforce of 100,000 staff.

Looking beyond the setback in India, BAE said successful conclusion of negotiations for a crucial Saudi Arabian fighter jet contract would underpin earnings growth this year.