Airbus 1st-Quarter Adjusted Profit Up Sharply
30 April 2019 - 3:28PM
Dow Jones News
By Robert Wall
Airbus SE (AIR.FR) said first-quarter adjusted profit rose
sharply, driven by increased plane deliveries with the European
plane maker on pace to overtake Boeing Co. (BA) to become the
world's largest jetliner maker this year.
Airbus said adjusted earnings before interest and taxes,
stripping out one-time items, rose to EUR549 million ($614 million)
compared with EUR14 million the year prior. However, net profit
fell 86% to EUR40 million.
Airbus delivered 162 airliners in the first quarter compared to
121 in the year-prior period, driving a 24% increase in sales to
EUR12.55 billion.
Airbus stuck to guidance of delivering 880 to 890 airliners this
year. Boeing was set to outproduce Airbus again this year before
the U.S. plane maker cut production plans after the worldwide
groundings of its 737 MAX planes in March. Barring further changes,
Airbus becomes the largest plane maker for the first time since
2011.
Boeing last week suspended its full-year plane delivery forecast
because of uncertainty over when MAX handovers can resume. It had
projected between 895 to 905 commercial airliner deliveries before
the MAX crisis hit.
Strong growth in global air travel has driven airlines' appetite
for new, more fuel efficient planes. Airbus is boosting output of
its A320 single-aisle jet to 60 aircraft a month by mid-year and
has said output should reach 63 such aircraft in 2021. Boeing was
poised to increase production of its 737, too, before reversing
course in March crash of one of the planes in Ethiopia, the second
fatal accident involving the new MAX version in less than five
months.
Toulouse, France-based Airbus said it suffered EUR4.34 billion
in free cash outflow before mergers, acquisitions and customer
financing. The figure reflects higher inventory levels to pave the
way for higher production and some delayed plane handovers. Airbus,
which typically generates most of its free cash flow in the last
weeks of the year, stuck to guidance of generating around EUR4
billion in free crash before mergers, acquisitions or customer
financing.
Airbus took at one-time charge of EUR61 million linked its
decision taken in February to shutter the A380 superjumbo program.
The last of the double-deckers is due to be delivered in 2021.
Airbus, in March, said it had begun talks with unions about the
impact of up to 3,500 jobs linked to the A380, mostly in France and
Germany.
The company also took a charge of EUR190 million as a result of
the suspension of defence export licences to Saudi Arabia by the
German government.
Write to Robert Wall at robert.wall@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
April 30, 2019 01:13 ET (05:13 GMT)
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