Airbus delivers during a ‘testing year’ says aircraft manufacturer

Aircraft manufacturer, Airbus, has raised its annual shareholder dividend on the back on delivering on its 2024 guidance, it said today.

Chief executive, Guillaume Faury, said: “We achieved strong order intake across all businesses in 2024. We delivered on our 2024 guidance in what was a testing year for Airbus.

“We refocused our efforts on key priorities, notably the production ramp-up and the transformation of Defence and Space. We continue to pursue profitable growth and our decarbonisation ambition.

Guillaume Faury

“The 2024 financial results and the level of confidence we have in our future performance support our proposal for an increased dividend.”

Wings for Airbus commercial aircraft are manufactured at the group’s factory in Broughton, near Chester, which employs around 4,500 staff. The group also employs several thousand staff in Filton, near Bristol.

Gross commercial aircraft orders totalled 878 (2023: 2,319 aircraft) with net orders of 826 aircraft after cancellations (2023: 2,094 aircraft).

The order backlog amounted to 8,658 commercial aircraft at the end of December 2024.

Airbus Helicopters registered 450 net orders (2023: 393 units), with a book-to-bill ratio above one both in units and value highlighting strong demand for the Division’s platforms.

There was also good order intake for helicopter services.

Airbus Defence and Space’s order intake by value increased to a record €16.7bn (2023: €15.7bn), corresponding to a book-to-bill of around 1.4. Fourth quarter orders included 25 additional Eurofighter military aircraft for Spain.

Consolidated order intake  by value decreased to €103.5bn (2023: €186.5bn) with the consolidated order book  valued at €629bn at the end of 2024 (year-end 2023: €554bn).

The increase in the consolidated backlog value mainly reflects the company-wide book-to-bill of above one, and the strengthening of the US dollar.

Consolidated revenues  increased six per cent year-on-year to €69.2bn (2023: €65.4bn).

A total of 766 commercial aircraft were delivered (2023: 735 aircraft), comprising 75 A220s, 602 A320 Family, 32 A330s and 57 A350s.

Revenues generated by Airbus’s commercial aircraft activities increased six per cent to €50.6bn, mainly reflecting the higher number of deliveries.

Airbus Helicopters’ revenues increased eight per cent to €7.9bn, reflecting higher deliveries of 361 units (2023: 346 units), a solid performance across programmes as well as growth in services.

Revenues at Airbus Defence and Space increased five per cent year-on-year to €12.1bn, mainly driven by the Air Power business. Seven A400M military airlifters were delivered (2023: eight aircraft), including the first for Kazakhstan.

Consolidated EBIT Adjusted – which the group says is an alternative performance measure and key indicator capturing the underlying business margin by excluding material charges or profits caused by movements in provisions related to programmes, restructuring or foreign exchange impacts as well as capital gains/losses from the disposal and acquisition of businesses – totalled €5.354bn (2023: €5.838bn).

EBIT Adjusted related to Airbus’s commercial aircraft activities increased to €5.093bn (2023: €4.818bn), with the positive impact from higher deliveries being partially reduced by investments for preparing the future.

The A320 Family programme continues to ramp up towards a rate of 75 aircraft per month in 2027.

The company is now stabilising monthly A330 production at around rate four. Specific supply chain challenges, notably with Spirit AeroSystems, are currently putting pressure on the ramp up of the A350 and the A220.

On the A350, the company continues to target rate 12 in 2028 and is adjusting the entry-into-service of the A350 freighter variant which is now expected in H2 2027. On the A220, the company continues to target a monthly production rate of 14 aircraft in 2026.

An Airbus H175 helicopter used in oil and gas industry

Airbus Helicopters’ EBIT Adjusted increased to €818m (2023: €735m), reflecting the higher deliveries, a solid performance across programmes and growth in services.

EBIT Adjusted at Airbus Defence and Space was a deficit of €566m (2023: €229m), reflecting charges of €1.3bn in Space programmes, including €0.3bn in the fourth quarter resulting from the completion of the in-depth technical review.

On the A400M programme, an additional update of the contract estimate at completion was performed and a net charge of €121m recorded, reflecting mainly updated assumptions regarding the new contract amendment with the launch nations and OCCAR and risk in the production plan.

In light of uncertainties regarding the level of aircraft orders, the company continues to assess the potential impact on the programme’s manufacturing activities. Risks on the qualification of technical capabilities and associated costs remain stable, with no major variation compared to 2023.

Consolidated self-financed R&D expenses were stable at €3.250bn (2023: €3.257bn).

Consolidated EBIT (reported) amounted to €5.304bn (2023: €4.603bn), including net Adjustments of -€50m.

These Adjustments comprised: 

• +€101m impact related to the dollar working capital mismatch and balance sheet revaluation, of which +€247m were in Q4;
• -€121m related to the A400M, of which -€118m were in Q4;
• +€51m related to the gain on Airbus OneWeb Satellites, linked to the acquisition of the remaining 50% of the joint venture in Q1;
• -€40m related to the recently announced termination of the Airbus Beluga Transport business; 
• -€41m of other costs including compliance and M&A, of which -€31m were in Q4.

The financial result was €121m (2023: €166m), mainly reflecting the revaluation of certain equity investments and the evolution of the US dollar, partially offset by the interest result and the revaluation of financial instruments.

Consolidated net income was €4.232bn (2023: €3.789bn) with consolidated reported earnings per share  of €5.36 (2023: €4.80).

Consolidated free cash flow before customer financing was €4.463bn (2023: €4.532bn), reflecting the strong performance in all businesses.

Consolidated free cash flow totalled €4.461bn (2023: €4.096bn).

The gross cash position stood at €26.9bn at the end of December 2024 (year-end 2023: €25.3bn), with a consolidated net cash position of €11.8bn (year-end 2023: €10.7bn).

The board of directors will propose the payment of a 2024  dividend of €2.00 per share (2023: €1.80 per share) and a special dividend of €1.00 per share (2023: €1.00 per share) to the 2025 Annual General Meeting taking place on April 15, 2025.

Looking ahead, the group targets to achieve in 2025:

• Around 820 commercial aircraft deliveries;
• EBIT Adjusted of around €7.0bn;
• Free Cash Flow before Customer Financing of around €4.5bn.