Airbus suffers turbulent year from pandemic impact
Airplane manufacturer Airbus suffered a year of turbulence due to the grounding of many fleets and closure of borders worldwide during the pandemic.
The group, which employs almost 6,000 staff at its wing-making plant in Broughton, near Chester, said its consolidated revenues for 2020 decreased to €49.9bn (2019: €70.5bn), driven by the difficult market environment impacting the commercial aircraft business, with 34% fewer deliveries year-on-year.
Earnings before interest and tax plummeted from €1.339bn in 2019 to a loss of €510m in 2020.
Chief executive, Guillaume Faury, said: “The 2020 results demonstrate the resilience of Airbus in the most challenging crisis to hit the aerospace industry.
“I want to thank our teams for their great achievements in 2020 and acknowledge the strong support of our Helicopters and Defence and Space businesses. I would also like to thank our customers, suppliers and partners for their loyalty to Airbus.”
He added: “Many uncertainties remain for our industry in 2021 as the pandemic continues to impact lives, economies and societies.
“We have issued guidance to provide some visibility in a volatile environment. Over the longer term, our ambition is to lead the development of a sustainable global aerospace industry.”
Net commercial aircraft orders totalled 268 (2019: 768 aircraft) with the order backlog comprising 7,184 commercial aircraft as of December 31, 2020.
The consolidated order intake by value decreased to €33.3bn (2019: €81.2bn) with the consolidated order book valued at €373bn on December 31, 2020 (year-end 2019: €471bn).
The decrease in the value of the commercial aircraft backlog reflects the higher number of deliveries compared with order intake, the weakening of the US dollar and an assessment of the backlog’s recoverability.
A total of 566 commercial aircraft were delivered (2019: 863 aircraft). During the fourth quarter of 2020, a total of 225 commercial aircraft were delivered including 89 in December.
Various measures were taken during 2020 to maintain a strong liquidity position while navigating the COVID-19 crisis, including a new €15.0bn credit facility.
Thanks to its strong credit rating, the company was able to limit interest expenses to €0.4bn for the year and extend the maturities of funding sources by issuing new bonds.
Given the global business environment, there will be no dividend proposed for 2020.
Looking ahead, as the basis for its 2021 guidance, the company assumes no further disruptions to the world economy, air traffic, the company’s internal operations, and its ability to deliver products and services.
Its 2021 guidance is before mergers and acquisitions.
On that basis, the company targets to at least achieve in 2021, the same number of commercial aircraft deliveries as in 2020; EBIT adjusted of €2bn; breakeven free cash flow before M&A and customer financing.
